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Fish and Game Laws 



of 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Commissioners on Fisheries and Game.' 



COMMISSIONERS : 

GEORGE W. FIELD, Chairman. 
GEORGE H. GARFIELD. 
GEORGE H. GRAHAM. 

Office, Room 158, State House, Boston. 
Telephone, Haymarket 2700. 



BOSTON: 

Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers, 

18 Post Office Square. 

1911. 



v\\\ 



Approved by 
The State Board of Publication. 



i 



<1 



CONTENTS. 



Fish Laws. 
Authority of Commissioners on Fisheries and 

Game: — page- 

What constitute fisheries laws, .... 
Appointment of fish and game commissioners, . 'J 

Authority to enforce laws relative to obstructions 

to migratory fish 7 

Authority to enforce laws relative to fish, birds 

and mammals 7 

8 
8 
9 

16 

10 
10 

11 
11 
11 



May require display for inspection, 

Can arrest without warrant, . 

Right of search, . . . 

Duties with respect to forest and other fires, 

Pulling down stone walls or fences, 

To regulate brook fishing, .... 

Commissioners' authority to take fish, . 

Fishing permits, 

Investigations, 

Colonizing insect-destroying birds within infested 

regions, 

Protection of material used in investigations, 
Pollution by waste material, .... 

Fishways: — 

Authority to examine dams and fishways, 
Notification of dam owners, . 
Liability of owners, 
Commissioners can build fishways, 
Settlement of damages, . 
Passage over private land, 



11 
12 
12 



14 
14 
14 
14 
15 
15 



Inspection of Fish: — 

Powers and duties of commissioners, ... 16 
Publication of returns of inspection of fish, . . 16 



IV 



CONTENTS. 



Fisheries in Great Ponds: — 

Public rights in great ponds, .... 
Commissioners may occupy certain ponds, . 
Introduction of fish into state waters, . 
Stocking great ponds with food fish, 

Mill Pond, Yarmouth, 

Measurement of ponds, ..... 
Private ownership of ponds, .... 
Private ownership of ponds bounded in part by 

public lands, 

Prohibited apparatus for pond fishing, . 



PAGE 

17 
17 
18 
18 
19 
19 
20 



fl 



Fisheries by Riparian Proprie- 



ontrol OF 
tors: — 
For cultivation" of fish, . 
When fish are private property, 
Penalty for unauthorized fishing, 
Definition of navigable stream, 
Governor can fix bounds, 
Governor can limit fishing, 
Proprietor's rights, . 

Shad, Herring and Alewives: — 

Prohibits taking herring in Hull and Quincy bays, 

Hingham harbor and parts of Boston harbor by 

means of torches or other artificial light, 
Also in Lynn harbor or vicinity, . 
Also in waters of Cohasset, Scituate, Duxbury 

Kingston and Plymouth, 
Also in the waters of Winthrop, 
Also in and about Nahant Bay, Beverly harbor 

and Salem Bay, 

Rights of towns and cities, 
Personal rights, ..... 
Alewife fishery, Sandwich, 
Hummock Pond, Nantucket, 
Fishing in Connecticut River, 
Fishing in Merrimac River, . 
Regulation of nets in Merrimac River, . 
Methods and times of fishing, 
Rights of lessees in Dukes County, 
Leasing of Tisbury Great Pond, 
Authority of officers on Palmer's River, 



CONTENTS. 



egulation of flshing near flshways, with 
Nets, and on Connecticut and Merrimac 



Rivers: — 
On Connecticut River, . 
On Merrimac River, 
Net fishing season, Merrimac, 
Gill net fishing prohibited, 
Size of mesh, .... 
Size of seine mesh, . 
When penalties do not apply, 
Regulations on Connecticut River 
Seining restrictions, 
Restrictions, North River, 
Fish wardens in certain towns and cities, 
Liability for neglect to appoint wardens, 



PAGE 

31 
32 
32 
32 
32 
32 
33 
33 
33 
34 
34 
34 



Bluefish: — 

In Wellfleet Bay, 



Trout and Salmon: — 
Trout and salmon, . 
Screens on the Merrimac, 
Liability for minors, 
Public waters only to be stocked, 



35 



35 
36 
36 

36 



Pickerel: — 
Legal size, 
Apparatus of capture, 



37 
37 



Black Bass: — 
Size, 



37 



Smelts: — 

Close season, .... 
Apparatus allowed, 
Exceptions in certain counties, 
Prohibited apparatus, 
What constitutes evidence, 

Penalties, 

Towns of Weymouth and Braintree may regulate 
the taking of smelts in the waters of Weymouth 
Fore river and Weymouth Back river, 
Right of search, 



38 
38 
38 
38 
39 
39 



39 
41 



VI 



CONTENTS. 



FOKFEITURE OF FlSH, BOATS, ETC. I — PAGE 

Forfeiture of boats and apparatus, ... 41 

Forfeiture of fish and apparatus, .... 42 
Duty of superintendents, clerks and others, . 42 



Pike Perch: — 

Prohibits transportation and sale of pike perch 
caught in certain waters, ... 



42 



Shiners and Sturgeon: — 

Taking shiners for bait, ...... 43 

Taking shiners for bait in Merrimac and Connecti- 
cut rivers, 44 

Sturgeon nets, 44 

Eels, Clams, Quahaugs and Scallops: — 

Relative to taking scallops, 44 

City and town jurisdiction, 45 

Quahaugs in Eastham, Orleans and Wellfleet, . 46 

Cultivation of shellfish 48 

Planting, cultivating and bedding quahaugs, . 49 
Planting and cultivating clams and quahaugs in 

the town of Barnstable, 52 

Protection of shellfish in town of Dartmouth, . 53 



Lobsters, Tatjtog and Other Fish: — 

Egg lobsters 

Town officers to enforce preceding section, 
Legal length of lobsters, .... 

Mutilation unlawful 

Detail of district police, .... 

Right of search, 

Catching of lobsters restricted to residents, 

Commissioners' rights 

Penalty, . . . . , . 

Non-residential prohibition upon taking lobsters 

and fish in Fairhaven, New Bedford, Dartmouth 

and Westport, .... 
Territorial definition, 

Penalty, 

Transportation from Provincetown, 
Limitation in Buzzard's Bay, 
Purchase of egg-bearing lobsters, . 



54 
55 
55 
5& 
56 
56 
56 
57 
57 



57 
58 
58 
58 
59 
59 



CONTENTS. 



Vll 



Oysters and Other Shellfish: — 

Oysters, 

Town officials may grant permits, 
Penalties and permits, . 
Rights of Indians and fishermen, 
Oyster licenses, 
Limits of areas, 
Public hearings, 
Who can have a license, . 
Rights of licensee, . 
Revocation of license, 
Prohibition of night fishing, . 

Penalties, 

Trespass forbidden, 

Pollution, .... 

Taking from contaminated waters of clams and 

quahaugs for bait, 

Penalties, 

A board of shellfish commissioners 

ford and Fairhaven, 
Shellfish for bait, . 
Protection of shellfish, Edgartown, 



for 



New 



Bed 



PAGE 

60 
60 
60 
61 
61 
61 
62 
62 
62 
62 
63 
63 



Regulation of Fish Weirs, Nets, Purse and 

Sweep Seines: — 
Authority to construct, .... 

Penalty for injury, 

Penalty for non-authorized construction, 

Statistical returns of fishing, . 

Close time for net fishing, 

Taking of fish in Lynn harbor, 

The taking of flounders and other ground fish by 

certain apparatus in the vicinity of Pemberton 

point and Pig rock prohibited, . 
Beam trawling in Boston harbor prohibited 
Traps prohibited in Buzzard's Bay, 
Nets prohibited in Buzzard's Bay, 

Penalties, 

When nets are nuisances, 

Fishing rights in Buzzard's Bay, . 

Limits of Buzzard's Bay, 

Restrictions, Edgartown and Cottage City, 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



Regulation op Fish Weirs, etc. — concluded. 
Restrictions, Barnstable and Mashpee, 
Restrictions, Pleasant Bay, Orleans, 
Restrictions, Westport, . 
Fish wardens, Westport, 
Fish wardens, Edgartown, 
Regarding eel bait, Edgartown, 



PAGE 

77 



79 
79 



General Provisions: — 

Penalty for robbing pots, trawls, etc., ... 80 
Apparatus for taking fish which frequent fresh 

water, 80 

For the better protection of fish, . . . .81 

Shellfish constables, 81 

Time of prosecutions, 81 

Duties of municipal officers, ..... 82 
Disposition of fines under the laws relating to 

fisheries, birds, animals and game, ... 82 

Special statutes not repealed, .... 82 

Reward for killing seals abolished, ... 83 

Kelp and seaweed, S3 

Game Laws. 

For the Preservation of Certain Birds and 
Animals: — 
Unnaturalized, foreign-born persons must procure 

licenses to hunt, 84 

Non-resident hunters must procure licenses to 

hunt, S5 

Registration of resident hunters, .... 88 
Licensing and registration of hunters and disposi- 
tion of the license fees, 90 

Lord's Day, close season, ..... 95 

Governor may proclaim close season in times of 

drought, ........ 95 

Ruffed grouse and woodcock, .... 96 

Quail, 97 

Gray, European or Hungarian Partridge, . . 99 

Loons and eagles protected, 100 

Heath hen, 100 

Reservation on Martha's Vineyard for birds, . 101 



CONTENTS. 



IX 



For the Preservation of Certain Birds and 

Animals — continued. 

Sale of prairie chickens, 

Protection and importation of wild turkeys, 

Wood or summer duck, 

State reservations are refuges for birds and game, 
Establishment of state bird and game preserves 

and the protection and propagation of wild 

birds and quadrupeds, 
Ducks, swans, geese, brant, . 
Shooting of certain wild fowl, 
Bag limit, black ducks, .... 
Wild ducks and geese in Dukes County, 
Pursuit and shooting of wild fowl in certain waters 

of Edgartown, 

Hunting wild ducks or geese in Dukes County, 
Use of live ducks for decoys prohibited in Nan 

tucket, 

Upland plover, wild pigeons, gulls and terns, 

Protection of herons and bitterns, . 

Shore, marsh and beach birds, 

Shore and marsh birds can be sold only durin 

open season, .... 

Birds of prey, 

Bodies or feathers of certain birds, 
Protection of homing pigeons, 



PAGE 

102 
103 
103 
103 



County 



made 



power boats 



Special game laws for Bristo 

form with General Laws, 
Gray squirrels, 
Hares and rabbits, . 
Use of traps, snares, ferrets 

illegal, .... 
Snaring on own land, 
Trapping with scented bait forbidden, 
Shooting, Plymouth Bay, 
Trespass, 

Ownership of game, 
Pheasants, 

Deer, .... 
Protection of deer from dogs, 
Recovery for damages caused by wild deer, 



etc 



CONTENTS. 



For the Preservation of Certain Birds and 

Animals — concluded. page 
Authority of commissioners relative to birds and 

animals, 125 

Disposal of fines, 125 

Game not to be transported out of State, . . 125 
• Introduction of foxes or raccoons into Dukes 

County prohibited, 126 

English sparrows to be killed, .... 126 

Bounty for killing wild cat or Canada lynx, . 126 

List of Ponds stocked. 1908-1910, . . . .128 

Deputy Fish and Game Commissioners, . . 130 

Cities and Towns, with District, .... 132 



FISH AND GAME LAWS 



OF 



MASSACHUSETTS, 
1911. 






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FISH LAWS. 

Revised Laws, Chap. 91. 

AUTHORITY OF COMMISSIONERS ON 
FISHERIES AND GAME, ETC. 

What constitute fisheries laws. 

Section 1. All laws relative to the culture, 
preservation, capture or passage of fish shall be 
known as the laws relative to fisheries. 

Appointment of fish and game commissioners. 

Section 2. There shall be a board of commis- 
sioners on fisheries and game consisting of three 
persons who shall be appointed by the governor, 
with the advice and consent of the council, for 
the term of five years from the time of their 
appointments and who shall be removable at the 
pleasure of the governor. 

As AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1905, CHAP. 407. 

Authority to remove obstructions to migratory fish. 

Section 3. The commissioners are em- 
powered to appoint deputies, and each of the 
commissioners, the deputies of the commis- 
sioners or members of the district police may 
enforce the laws regulating fisheries; and may 
seize and remove, summarily if need be, all 
illegal obstructions to the passage of migratory 
fish except dams, mills or machinery, at the 
expense of the persons using or maintaining the 
same. 

Acts of 1908, Chap. 417. 

Authority of the commissioners and their deputies to 
enforce laws. 

Section 1. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game and their salaried deputies shall have 
and exercise throughout the commonwealth for 



FISH LAWS. 



the enforcement of the laws relating to fish, 
birds and mammals, all the powers of constables, 
except the service of civil process, and of police- 
men and watchmen. The said salaried deputies 
when on duty shall wear, and shall display as a 
token of authority, a metallic badge bearing the 
seal of the commonwealth and the words "Dep- 
uty Fish and Game Commissioner." 

Section 2. Any person not being a salaried 
deputy of said commission on fisheries and game 
who shall possess or wear the above described 
badge shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars 
for every such offence. 

Section 3. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game, with the approval of the governor, may 
in writing authorize any of their salaried depu- 
ties to have in possession and carry a revolver, 
club, billy, handcuffs and twisters, or such other 
weapon or article as may be required in the per- 
formance of their official duty. 

Acts of 1908, Chap. 255. 
May require display for inspection. 

A commissioner on fisheries and game or any 
duly authorized deputy commissioner, receiving 
a salary from the commonwealth, may request 
of any person whom said commissioner or deputy 
commissioner reasonably believes to be engaged 
in the taking, killing, hunting or snaring of fish, 
birds or animals, contrary to law, that such per- 
son shall forthwith display for the inspection of 
such commissioner or deputy commissioner, any 
and all fish, birds and animals then in his pos- 
session; and upon refusal to comply with such 
request said commissioner or duly authorized 
deputy commissioner may arrest without warrant 
the person so refusing. 

Can arrest without warrant. 

Section 4. The commissioners and their 
deputies, members of the district police and all 
officers qualified to serve criminal process may 



FISH LAWS. 



arrest without warrant any person whom they 
find violating any of the fish or game laws, except 
that persons engaged in the business of regularly 
dealing in the buying and selling of game as an 
article of commerce shall not be so arrested for 
having in possession or selling game at their usual 
places of business. 

Acts of 1904, Chap. 367, as amended by Acts of 1910, Chap. 
548. 

Right of search. 

Section 1. Any commissioner on fisheries 
and game, deputy commissioner on fisheries and 
game, or member of the district police, may, 
with or without a warrant, search any boat, car, 
box, locker, crate or package, and any building, 
where he has reason to believe any game or fish 
taken or held in violation of law is to be found, 
and may seize any game or fish so taken or held, 
and any game or fish so taken or held shall be 
disposed of by the commissioners on fisheries and 
game as they may deem advisable for the best 
interests of the commonwealth: 'provided, how- 
ever, that this section shall not authorize entering 
a dwelling house, or apply to game or fish which 
is passing through this commonwealth under au- 
thority of the laws of the United States. 

Section 2. A court or justice authorized to 
issue warrants in criminal cases shall, upon com- 
plaint under oath that the complainant believes 
that any game or fish unlawfully taken or held is 
concealed in a particular place, other than a 
dwelling house, if satisfied that there is reason- 
able cause for such belief, issue a warrant to 
search therefor. The search warrant shall desig- 
nate and describe the place to be searched and the 
articles for which search is to be made, and shall 
be directed to any officer named in section one of 
this act, commanding him to search the place 
where the game or fish for which he is required 
to search is believed to be concealed, and to seize 
such game or fish. 



10 FISH LAWS. 



Acts of 1907, Chap. 299. 
Duties with respect to forest and other fires. 

The commissioners on fisheries and game and 
their duly authorized deputies may arrest with- 
out a warrant any person found in the act of 
unlawfully setting a fire. Said commissioners 
and their deputies may require assistance accord- 
ing to the provisions of section twenty of chapter 
thirty-two of the Revised Laws, and they shall 
take precautions to prevent the progress of forest 
fires, or the improper kindling thereof, and upon 
the discovery of any such fire shall immediately 
summon the necessary assistance, and notify the 
forest fire ward of the town. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 173. 
Pulling down stone walls or fences. 

The commissioners on fisheries and game and 
their duly authorized deputies may arrest with- 
out a warrant any person found in the act of 
wilfully pulling down a stone wall or fence, or 
otherwise violating the provisions of section 
ninety-one of chapter two hundred and eight of 
the Revised Laws. 

To regulate brook fishing. 

Section 5. If the owner of land within which 
a brook is wholly or partly situated agrees that 
such brook or part thereof shall be open to the 
public after the expiration of three years as here- 
inafter provided, the commissioners may, upon 
petition of thirty or more inhabitants of a city or 
town within which such brook is wholly or partly 
situated, including such owner, or upon petition 
of the mayor and aldermen of such city or the 
selectmen of such town and such owner, cause 
such brook to be stocked with food fish; and 
shall then make reasonable regulations, which 
shall be in force for a period of not more than 
three years, relative to fishing in such brook, may 
affix penalties of not more than twenty dollars 



FISH LAWS. 11 



for each violation thereof and shall cause such 
regulations to be enforced. There shall be al- 
lowed and paid annually from the treasury of the 
commonwealth an amount not exceeding five 
hundred dollars to carry out the provisions of 
this section. 

Commissioners' authority to take fish. 

Section 6. The commissioners may take fish 
or cause them to be taken at any time or in any 
manner for purposes connected with fish culture 
or scientific observation. 

As AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1902, CHAP. 164. 

Fishing permits. 

Section 7. The board of commissioners on 
fisheries and game may issue permits for the 
taking of sand eels in the tidal waters of the Merri- 
mac and Ipswich rivers and Plum Island sound, 
and their tributaries. Said permits shall be 
issued without any fee therefor, and shall be 
revocable at the discretion of the commissioners. 

Acts of 1902, Chap. 178. 
Investigations. 

The authority of the commissioners on fisheries 
and game shall extend to the investigation of 
questions relating to fish and fisheries, or to game, 
and they may from time to time, personally or by 
assistants, institute and conduct inquiries per- 
taining to such questions. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 217. 

Colonizing insect-destroying birds within infested 
regions. 

The commissioners on fisheries and game are 
hereby authorized to make an investigation of 
the means by which those birds which feed upon 
gypsy moths, brown tail moths, leopard moths, 
cut worms, and other noxious insects, can be in- 
creased or colonized within infested regions or in 
special locations. 



12 FISH LAWS. 



Acts of 1906, Chap. 327. 

Protection of property and material used by the com- 
missioners on fisheries and game in making scien- 
tific investigations. 

Whoever wilfully and without right enters in or 
upon any building or other structure or any area 
of land or water set apart and used by or under 
authority of the commissioners on fisheries and 
game for conducting scientific experiments or in- 
vestigations after said commissioners have caused 
printed notices of such occupation and use and 
the purposes thereof to be placed in a conspicuous 
position adjacent to any such areas of land or 
water or upon any such building or other struc- 
ture, and any person who wilfully and maliciously 
injures or defaces any such building or other 
structure or any notice posted as aforesaid, or 
injures or destroys any property used in such ex- 
periments or investigations, or otherwise inter- 
feres therewith, shall be punished by imprison- 
ment for not more than six months or by a fine 
of not more than two hundred dollars. And 
said commissioners and their deputies are hereby 
authorized to arrest without warrant any person 
found violating the provisions of this act. 

Acts of 1910, Chap. 460. 

Discharge of waste materials into the streams of the 
commonwealth. 

Section 1. If the commissioners on fisheries 
and game determine that the fisheries of any 
brook or stream in this commonwealth may be 
of sufficient value to warrant the prohibition 
or regulation of the discharge or escape of saw- 
dust, shavings, garbage, ashes, acids, sewage, dye 
stuffs, and other waste material from any par- 
ticular sawmill, manufacturing or mechanical 
plant, or dwelling house, stable or other building, 
which may, directly or indirectly, materially in- 
jure such fisheries, they may by an order in writ- 



FISH LAWS. 13 



ing to the owner or tenant of such sawmill, manu- 
facturing or mechanical plant, dwelling house, 
stable or other building prohibit or regulate the 
discharge or escape of sawdust, shavings, garbage, 
ashes, acids, sewage, dye stuffs, and other waste 
material therefrom into such brook or stream. 
Such order may be revoked or modified by them 
at any time. Before any such order is made 
said commissioners shall, after reasonable notice 
to all parties in interest, give a public hearing in 
the county where the sawmill, manufacturing or 
mechanical plant, dwelling house, stable or other 
building to be affected by the order is located, at 
which hearing any citizens shall have the right 
to be heard on the questions to be determined by 
the commissioners. Upon petition of the party 
aggrieved by such order, filed within six months 
after the date thereof, the superior court, sitting 
in equity, may, after such notice as it may deem 
sufficient, hear all interested parties and annul, 
alter or affirm the order. If such petition is 
filed by the party aggrieved by said order within 
ten days after the date thereof said order shall 
not take effect until altered or affirmed as afore- 
said. Whoever, having so been notified, dis- 
charges sawdust, shavings, garbage, ashes, acids, 
sewage, dye stuffs, and other waste materials, or 
suffers or permits it to be discharged or to escape 
from said plant under his control into a brook or 
stream in violation of the order of said commis- 
sioners, or of said court, if an appeal is taken, 
shall be punished by a fine of not more than 
twenty-five dollars for the first offence and of 
fifty dollars for a second offence. 

Section 2. Section eight of chapter ninety- 
one of the Revised Laws, as amended by chapter 
three hundred and fifty-six of the acts of the 
year nineteen hundred and six, is hereby repealed. 

Section 3. This act shall take effect on the 
first day of January in the year nineteen hundred 
and eleven. 



14 FISH LAWS. 



FISHWAYS. 

As AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1904, CHAP. 365. 

Authority to examine dams and fishways. 

Section 9. The commissioners may examine 
all dams upon rivers where the law requires fish- 
ways to be maintained, or where in their judg- 
ment fishways are needed, and they shall deter- 
mine whether the fishways, if any, are suitable 
and sufficient for the passage of the fish in such 
rivers, or whether in their judgment a fishway is 
needed for the passage of fish over any dam; 
and shall prescribe by an order in writing what 
changes or repairs, if any, shall be made therein, 
and where, how and when a new fishway must be 
built, and at what times the same shall be kept 
open, and shall give notice to the owners of the 
dams accordingly. The supreme judicial court, 
or the superior court, shall, upon the petition of 
the commissioners, have jurisdiction in equity or 
otherwise to enforce any order made in accord- 
ance with the provisions of this section, and to 
restrain any violation of such order. 

Notification of dam owners. 

Section 10. Such owners shall be notified by 
serving upon them a copy of the order; and a cer- 
tificate of the commissioners that service has 
been so made shall be deemed sufficient proof 
thereof. 

Liability of owners. 

Section 11. Any owner of such a dam who 
refuses or neglects to keep open or maintain a 
fishway at the times prescribed by the commis- 
sioners shall forfeit fifty dollars for each day of 
such refusal or neglect. 

Commissioners can build fishways. 

Section 12. If, in the opinion of the commis- 
sioners, a passage for edible fish should be pro- 



FISH LAWS. 15 



vided, or if any one of the commissioners finds 
that there is no fishway or an insufficient fishway 
in or around a dam where a fishway is required by 
law to be maintained, any one of the commis- 
sioners may, in his discretion, enter with work- 
men and materials upon the premises of the 
person required to maintain a fishway there and 
may, at the expense of the commonwealth, if in 
the opinion of the commissioners the person 
required by law to construct or maintain such 
fishway is not able to afford such expense, im- 
prove an existing fishway, or cause one to be 
constructed if none exists, and may, if necessary, 
take the land of any other person who is not 
obliged by law to maintain said fishway; and if 
a fishway has been constructed in accordance 
with the provisions of this section, the commis- 
sioners shall not require the owner of the dam 
to alter such fishway within five years after the 
completion thereof. 

Settlement of damages. 

Section 13. All damages which are caused 
by taking land as provided in the preceding sec- 
tion, shall, upon the application of either party, 
be estimated in the same manner as land which 
has been taken for a highway and shall be paid by 
the commonwealth. Said expense shall be a 
charge against the person who is required by law 
to construct and maintain such fishway and shall 
be recovered in an action of contract in the name 
of the commonwealth, with costs and with in- 
terest at the rate of twelve per cent per annum. 

Passage over private land. 

Section 14. Each of the commissioners may, 
in the performance of his duties, enter upon and 
pass through or over private property. 



16 FISH LAWS. 



INSPECTION OF FISH. 

Acts op 1902, Chap. 138. 
Powers and duties of commissioners. 

Section 1. The office of inspector general of 
fish is hereby abolished. 

Section 2. The powers and duties heretofore 
conferred and imposed upon the inspector gen- 
eral of fish are hereby conferred and imposed 
upon the board of commissioners on fisheries and 
game. 

Section 3. Said board may appoint in every 
town in which fish is packed for export, inspec- 
tors of fish, who shall be sworn before them or 
before a justice of the peace, and shall give bond 
to them with sufficient sureties, and be removable 
at the discretion of said board. Each inspector 
shall once in six months make the returns to said 
board necessary to carry into effect the pro- 
visions of chapter fifty-six of the Revised Laws. 

Section 4. The inspectors of fish shall have 
the powers and perform the duties heretofore 
conferred and imposed upon the deputy in- 
spectors of fish, but shall pay to the commis- 
sioners on fisheries and game the proportion of 
fees formerly paid to the inspector general of fish. 
Said commissioners shall pay the fees received 
from the inspectors into the treasury of the com- 
monwealth on the first Monday of January and 
the first Monday of July in each year, and shall 
include a brief statement of the work of fish 
inspection and of the fees received therefor, in 
their annual report. 

Section 5. Sections three and four of chapter 
fifty-six of the Revised Laws are hereby repealed. 

Acts of 1903, Chap. 196. 
Publication of returns of inspection of fish. 

Section 1 . Section five of chapter fifty-six of 
the Revised Laws, which provides for an annual 
return and publication relative to the inspection 
of fish, is hereby repealed. 



FISH LAWS. 17 



FISHERIES IN GREAT PONDS. 

Public rights in great ponds. 

Section 15. The fishery of a pond, the area of 
which is more than twenty acres, shall be public, 
except as hereinafter provided; and all persons 
shall, for the purpose of fishing, be allowed 
reasonable means of access thereto. 

Commissioners may occupy certain ponds. 

Section 16. The commissioners may occupy, 
manage and control not more than six great 
ponds, except such as have revested in the com- 
monwealth for breach of the terms and con- 
ditions of any lease thereof, for the purpose of 
cultivating useful fish and of distributing them 
within the commonwealth; and may occupy not 
more than one-tenth part thereof with en- 
closures and appliances for the purpose of such 
cultivation ; but this privilege shall not affect any 
public rights to such ponds, other than the right 
of fishing, and the appliances and enclosures 
shall be so placed as not to debar ingress to or 
egress from such ponds at proper places. 

Section 17. If the commissioners determine 
so to occupy and improve any such pond, they 
shall post a notice of such purpose in a public 
place in the town or towns in which said pond is 
situated and file a like notice in the office of the 
clerk of each of said towns and in the office of the 
secretary of the commonwealth. The affidavit 
of an officer qualified to serve civil process that 
such notice has been posted shall be deemed full 
proof thereof. 

Section 18. After such notice has been so 
filed and posted, any violation of any of the 
rights of said commissioners under the pro- 
visions of section sixteen shall be punished as 
provided in section twenty-nine. 



18 FISH LAWS. 



Acts of 1911, Chap. 185. 
Introduction of fish into state waters. 

Section 1 . It shall be unlawful to put in any 
of the public waters, or in any waters connecting 
therewith, any species of fish, or the roe, spawn 
or fry thereof, without having first secured the 
written approval of the commissioners on fish- 
eries and game. 

Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
ceeding fifty dollars. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 285. 
Stocking great ponds with food fish. 

Section 1. The board of commissioners on 
fisheries and game, upon the petition of the 
mayor and aldermen of a city or of the select- 
men of a town within which a great pond or a 
part thereof is situated, shall cause the pond to 
be stocked with such food fish as the board judges 
to be best suited to the waters thereof: provided, 
that a public hearing upon the matter has pre- 
viously been given within such city or town by 
the mayor and aldermen, or by the selectmen, 
notice of which, at least ten days before the day 
of the hearing, has been posted in three or more 
public places and published in a newspaper in 
such city or town, if there be any, and if not, then 
in a newspaper published in the county in which 
the pond is situated. In a town such a hearing 
need not be given, if the town at an annual or a 
special meeting has instructed the selectmen to 
file such a petition. When a great pond is not 
situated wholly within a city or town, the board 
of commissioners on fisheries and game shall not 
proceed under the provisions of this act with 
respect to that pond, unless a majority of the 
cities and towns bordering upon that pond have 
filed petitions as aforesaid. The board shall 
thereupon prescribe, for a period not exceeding 



FISH LAWS. 19 



three years, such reasonable regulations relative 
to fishing in the pond and its tributaries, with such 
penalties not exceeding twenty dollars for one 
offence, as they deem to be for the public in- 
terest, and shall cause such regulations to be 
enforced; but the provisions of this act shall not 
apply to ponds used as sources of public water 
supply. The commissioners may restock such 
pond and may extend such reasonable regula- 
tions for periods not exceeding three years each 
whenever they receive a petition therefor as 
herein provided. ' Five hundred dollars shall an- 
nually be appropriated by the commonwealth 
to carry out the provisions of this section. 

Section 2. Section nineteen of chapter 
ninety-one of the Revised Laws, as amended by 
chapter two hundred and seventy-four of the 
acts of the year nineteen hundred and three, and 
by chapter three hundred and six of the acts of 
the year nineteen hundred and seven, is hereby 
repealed. 

Mill pond, Yarmouth. 

Section 20. The commissioners may occupy 
and control Mill pond, in the town of Yarmouth, 
for the purpose of cultivating food fish for dis- 
tribution within the commonwealth. Whoever, 
without the written consent of the commis- 
sioners, fishes in said pond in any other manner 
than with hand line and single hook, shall forfeit 
not less than fifty nor more than two hundred 
dollars for the first offence, and not less than one 
hundred nor more than two hundred dollars for 
any subsequent offence. 

Measurement of ponds. 

Section 21. The county commissioners shall, 
in July, upon the request and at the expense of 
any persons who claim to be interested in a great 
pond, cause a measurement thereof to be made 
which shall be recorded in the office of the town 



20 FISH LAWS. 



clerk of each town within which such pond is 
situated; and no arm or branch shall be included 
as a part of a pond unless it is at least fifty feet 
in width and one foot in depth. 

Section 22. The selectmen of a town may- 
measure ponds which are wholly within their 
town, in the manner provided in the preceding 
section, and such measurement shall be recorded 
in the office of the town clerk. 

Private ownership of ponds. 

Section 23. The riparian proprietors of any 
pond, the area of which is not more than twenty 
acres, and the proprietors of any pond or parts 
of a pond created by artificial flowing shall have 
exclusive control of the fisheries therein. 

Private ownership of ponds bounded in part by pub- 
lic lands. 

Section 24. A pond which is not more than 
twenty acres in area and is bounded in part by 
land belonging to a town or county shall become 
the exclusive property of the individual pro- 
prietors as to the fisheries therein only upon 
payment to the town treasurer, county commis- 
sioners or treasurer and receiver general of a just 
compensation for their respective rights therein, 
to be determined by three persons, one of whom 
shall be a riparian proprietor of said pond, one 
the chairman of the board of selectmen, if the 
rights of a town are in question, or of the county 
commissioners, if the rights of a county or of the 
commonwealth are in question, and one to be 
appointed by the commissioners on fisheries and 
game. 

Section 25. Whoever, without the written 
consent of the proprietor or lessee of a natural 
pond, the area of which is not more than twenty 
acres, or of an artificial pond of any size, in 
which fish are lawfully cultivated and main- 
tained, takes any fish therefrom, shall forfeit 
not more than twenty-five dollars for each 
offence. 



FISH LAWS. 21 



AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1904, CHAP. 308. 

Prohibited apparatus for pond fishing. 

Section 2G. Whoever draws, sets, stretches 
or uses a drag net, set net, purse net, seine or 
trawl, or whoever sets or uses more than ten 
hooks for fishing, in any pond, or aids in so doing, 
shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty 
nor more than fifty dollars. The provisions of 
this section shall not affect the rights of riparian 
proprietors of ponds mentioned in section twenty- 
three or the corporate rights of any fishing com- 
pany. 

CONTROL OF FISHERIES BY RIPARIAN 
PROPRIETORS. 

For cultivation of fish. 

Section 27. A riparian proprietor of an un- 
navigable stream may, within the limits of his 
own premises, enclose the waters thereof for the 
cultivation of useful fish if he furnishes a suitable 
passage for migratory fish naturally frequenting 
such waters. 

When fish are private property. 

Section 28. Fish which are artificially prop- 
agated or maintained shall be the property of 
the person propagating or maintaining them. A 
person who is legally engaged in their culture and 
maintenance may take them in his own waters 
at pleasure, and may have them in his possession 
for purposes properly connected with said culture 
and maintenance, and may at all times sell them 
for these purposes, but shall not sell them for 
food at seasons when their capture is prohibited 
by law. 

Penalty for unauthorized fishing. 

Section 29. Whoever, without the permis- 
sion of the proprietors, fishes in that portion of a 
pond, stream or other water in which fish are law- 
fully cultivated or maintained shall forfeit not 



22 FISH LAWS. 



less than one nor more than twenty dollars for the 
first offence, and not less than five nor more than 
fifty dollars for any subsequent offence. 

Definition of navigable stream. 

Section 30. For the purposes of this chapter, 
no tidal stream shall be considered navigable 
above the point where, on the average through- 
out the year, it has a channel less than forty feet 
wide and four feet deep during the three hours 
nearest the hour of high tide. 

Governor can fix bounds. 

Section 31. The governor, with the advice 
and consent of the council, may, for the pur- 
poses of this chapter, arbitrarily fix and define 
the tidal bounds and mouths of streams upon the 
recommendation of the commissioners on fish- 
eries and game. 

Governor can limit fishing-. 

Section 32. The governor may, in like man- 
ner, limit or prohibit, for not more than five 
years at any one time, fishing in the navigable 
tidal waters and in the unnavigable waters of 
specified streams, except in such portions as may 
be enclosed according to provisions of section 
twenty-seven; and whoever fishes in streams 
where the right of fishing is thus limited or pro- 
hibited shall forfeit ten dollars for the first offence 
and fifty dollars for each subsequent offence. 

Proprietor's rights. 

Section 33. The riparian proprietor on an 
Unnavigable tidal stream, enclosed or unenclosed, 
in which fish are lawfully cultivated or main- 
tained shall have the control of the fishery thereof 
within his own premises and opposite thereto to 
the middle of the stream, and a riparian pro- 
prietor at the mouth of such stream, shall also 
have control of the fishing thereof beyond and 



FISH LAWS. 23 



around the mouth of the stream so far as the 
tide ebbs, if it does not ebb more than eighty 
rods; and whoever fishes within these limits 
without permission of such owner shall forfeit not 
less than one nor more than twenty dollars for 
the first offence and not less than five nor more 
than fifty dollars for each subsequent offence. 

SHAD, HERRING AND ALEWIVES. 

Acts of 1908, Chap. 298. 

Prohibits the taking of herring in Hull and Quincy 
bays, Hingham harbor and parts of Boston har- 
bor by means of torches or other artificial light. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person 
to display torches or other light designed or used 
for the purpose of taking herring in Hull bay, 
Quincy bay, Hingham harbor, or in any waters 
southerly of a line drawn from Moon Island to 
Pemberton. 

Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
of this act shall, for a first offence, be punished by 
a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two 
hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less 
than six nor more than twelve months, or by both 
such fine and imprisonment, and for a second 
offence, by both said fine and imprisonment. 

Acts of 1909, Chap. 194 

Prohibits the taking of herring in Lynn harbor or its 
vicinity by means of torches or other light. 

Section 1. No person shall display torches 
or other light designed or used for the purpose of 
taking herring or other fish in Lynn harbor and 
its vicinity, from a line drawn from Bass Point in 
the town of Nahant to Ocean Pier in the town of 
Revere, or in Saugus river or Pines river, so- 
called, or in any tributary thereof. 

Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
of this act shall be punished for a first offence by 
a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two 
hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less 



24 FISH LAWS. 



than six nor more than twelve months, or by both 
such fine and imprisonment, and for a second 
offence by both such fine and imprisonment. 

Acts of 1910, Chap. 494, as amended by Acts of 1911, Chap. 
103. 

Regulates torching in the waters of Cohasset, Scitu- 
ate, Duxbury, Kingston and Plymouth. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
son to display torches or other light designed or 
used for the purpose of taking herring or other 
fish in any of the waters of Cohasset and Scituate 
southwesterly of a line drawn from Little Black 
Rock to Gull Island, or in the waters of Duxbury 
and Plymouth harbors westerly of a line drawn 
from Pier Head to Saquish Head, or in the waters 
of the town of Kingston: provided, however, that 
the selectmen of the towns of Cohasset, Scituate, 
Duxbury, Kingston and Plymouth may grant 
permits for the display of torches or other light 
for the purposes aforesaid, within the limits of 
their respective towns as herein described, with 
such restrictions as in their judgment will pre- 
vent the same from constituting a nuisance ; and 
they may at any time revoke any such permit. 

Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
of this act shall be punished for a first offence by 
a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two 
hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less 
than six nor more than twelve months, or by 
both such fine and imprisonment, and for a sec- 
ond offence by both such fine and imprisonment. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 164. 

Regulates the taking of fish by means of torches or 
other artificial light in the waters of Winthrop. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
son to display torches or other light designed or 
used for the purpose of taking herring or other 
fish in any waters of the town of Winthrop : pro- 
vided, however, that the selectmen of said town 



FISH LAWS. 25 



may grant permits for the display of torches or 
other lights for the purposes aforesaid within the 
limits of the town, with such restrictions as in 
their judgment will prevent the same from con- 
stituting a nuisance; and they may at any time 
revoke any such permit. 

Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
of this act shall be punished for a first offence by 
a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two 
hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less 
than six nor more than twelve months, or by 
both such fine and imprisonment, and for a 
second offence by both such fine and imprison- 
ment. 

Acts of 1909, Chap. 291. 

In the waters in and about Nahant bay, Beverly har- 
bor and Salem bay. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
son to display torches or other light designed or 
used for the purpose of taking herring or other 
fish, in Nahant bay, Beverly harbor, Salem bay, 
or in the vicinity or in any inlet therein, or in any 
waters westerly and northwesterly of a line drawn 
from East Point, Nahant, to Egg Rock, to Ram 
island, to Tinker's island, to Lowell island, to 
Baker's island, to the eastern end of Great Misery 
island, then to the southern point of Gale's Head, 
Manchester, including Manchester harbor and 
Bass river, Beverly, and its tributaries : provided, 
however, that the boards of health of the cities of 
Beverly and Salem and of the towns of Danvers, 
Manchester and Marblehead may grant permits 
for the display of torches or other light for the 
purpose aforesaid, within the limits of their re- 
spective cities and towns during the months of 
October to April, inclusive, of any year, with such 
restrictions as in their judgment will prevent the 
same from constituting a nuisance ; and they may 
at any time revoke any such permit. 

Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall, for a first offence, be punished by 



26 FISH LAWS. 



a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two hun- 
dred dollars or by imprisonment for not less than 
six months nor more than twelve months, or by 
both such fine and imprisonment; and for a sec- 
ond offence, by both such fine and imprisonment. 

Rights of towns and cities. 

Section 34. A city or town may open ditches, 
sluiceways or canals into any pond within its 
limits for the introduction and propagation of 
herring or ale wives, and for the creation of 
fisheries for the same ; and land for opening such 
ditches, sluiceways or canals within such city or 
town may be taken according to the provisions 
of law for the taking of land for highways. 

Section 35. A city or town which creates 
such fishery shall own it, may make regulations 
concerning it and may lease it for not more than 
five years, upon such terms as may be agreed 
upon. A town may lease for a like period, and 
upon like terms, any fishery owned by it or any 
public fishery regulated and controlled by it. 

Section 36. Whoever takes, kills or hauls on 
shore any herring or alewives in a fishery created 
by a city or town, without its permission or that 
of its lessees, or in a fishery created by a corpo- 
ration, without the permission of such corpora- 
tion, shall forfeit not less than five nor more than 
fifty dollars. Prosecutions under the provisions 
of this section shall be commenced within thirty 
days after the commission of the offence. 

Personal rights. 

Section 37. The provisions of the three pre- 
ceding sections shall not impair the rights of any 
person under any law passed before the twenty- 
fifth day of April in the year eighteen hundred 
and sixty-six or under any contract then existing 
or authorize a city or town to enter upon or build 
canals or sluiceways into a pond which is the 
private property of a person or corporation. 



FISH LAWS. 27 



Acts of 1904, Chap. 321. 
Relative to ale wife fishery, Sandwich. 

Section 1. Levi S. Nye and John A. Holway, 
their heirs and assigns, shall have for the term of 
ten years from the date of the passage of this 
act, the exclusive right to take and catch ale- 
wives in the stream known as "Mill River", from 
its sources in the "Shawme Lakes or Ponds", so- 
called, through the marshes in the town of Sand- 
wich to the waters of Cape Cod bay: provided, 
that the said Nye and Holway, their heirs and 
assigns, shall construct and maintain a good and 
sufficient passageway over or around the dam 
or dams which now are or may hereafter be 
erected upon said stream to enable fish to enter 
the ponds above such dam or dams, and shall 
keep such passageway open and unobstructed 
from the first day of April to the fourteenth day 
of June, inclusive, of each year. 

Section 2. Said Nye and Holway, and their 
heirs and assigns, may catch alewives during two 
thirds of the period specified in section one, that 
is to say, upon fifty days out of the seventy-five 
days between the first day of April and the four- 
teenth day of June, inclusive, of each year. 

Section 3. Any person or persons taking ale- 
wives in said Mill river or in the said lakes or 
ponds without the written consent of the said 
Nye and Holway, or of their heirs and assigns, 
shall, upon the complaint of said Nye or Holway, 
or of their or any of their heirs or assigns, or of 
any person in their behalf, forfeit not less than 
ten nor more than twenty dollars for each offence. 
Half of every such forfeiture shall be paid to said 
Nye and Holway or to their heirs or assigns. 

Acts of 1904, Chap. 232. 
Hummock pond, Nantucket. 

Section 1. The inhabitants of the island of 
Nantucket may take alewives or herring with 



28 FISH LAWS. 



seines or nets in Hummock pond, south of the 
bridge in the said island, from the tenth day of 
March to the thirty-first day of May, inclusive, 
in each year; but all fish, other than alewives or 
herring, caught or taken in such seines or nets 
shall immediately be put back in the water 
whence they were taken. 

Section 2. Any person violating the pro- 
visions of this act, by failing to put back imme- 
diately as aforesaid fish other than alewives or 
herring caught or taken as aforesaid, shall be 
punished by a fine of not less than twenty nor 
more than fifty dollars. 

Section 3. So much of section twenty-six of 
chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws as is in- 
consistent herewith is hereby repealed. 

Fishing in Connecticut river. 

Section 38. Whoever takes or aids in taking 
from the Connecticut river or its tributaries any 
shad or alewives between the first day of July and 
the fifteenth day of March shall forfeit one hun- 
dred dollars for each offence. 

Fishing in Merrimac river. 

Section 39. Whoever, from the first day of 
March to the thirty-first day of May, takes ale- 
wives above tidal waters in the Merrimac river 
or any tributary thereof between sunrise on 
Friday morning and sunrise on Monday morning 
shall, except as provided in section forty-one, 
forfeit for each alewife so taken not less than one 
nor more than five dollars. 

Section 40. No person shall take shad in the 
Merrimac river in any manner between the first 
day of July and the first day of April. 

Regulation of nets in Merrimac river. 

Section 41. Whoever takes shad or alewives 
in that part of the Merrimac river where the 
tide ebbs and flows, by the use of a gill net of any 



FISH LAWS. 29 



description, or of a sweep seine having a mesh 
which stretches less than one and three-quarters 
inches, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for each 
offence. 

Methods and times of fishing. 

Section 42. Whoever takes shad or alewives, 
except in the Connecticut, Taunton Great, 
Nemasket and Merrimac rivers and their tribu- 
taries, in any other manner than by naturally or 
artificially baited hook and hand line, on Sun- 
day, Tuesday or Thursday, and whoever, between 
the fifteenth day of June and the first day of 
March, takes shad, except in the Connecticut and 
Merrimac rivers, or alewives, shall forfeit for 
each shad five dollars, and for each alewife 
twenty-five cents. 

Rights of lessees in Dukes County. 

Section 43. Lessees from the commissioners 
on fisheries and game of any body of water in the 
county of Dukes County and all other persons 
having the right to take alewives in any other 
waters in said county may at any time take ale- 
wives from said waters and from the ditches con- 
necting them with each other and with the ocean. 
Whoever, other than said lessees or any other 
person duly authorized, takes any fish, except 
eels, from any of said waters or ditches without 
the previous permission in writing of said lessees 
or of said duly authorized persons shall forfeit one 
dollar for each fish so taken. 

Acts of 1910, Chap. 529. 

Leasing of Tisbury Great Pond by the board of com- 
missioners on fisheries and game. 

Section 1. The board of commissioners on 
fisheries and game may in the name of the com- 
monwealth lease from time to time until January 
first, nineteen hundred and twenty, for a term 
not exceeding five years at any one time, the 



30 FISH LAWS. 



pond known as Tisbury Great Pond, in -the county 
of Dukes County, with the arms, coves and bays 
connected therewith, for the purpose of cultivat- 
ing useful fishes, on such terms and conditions as 
may seem to them expedient: provided, that 
nothing herein shall affect the right of any citizen 
of the commonwealth to take fish in said pond or 
in the waters connected therewith by hook and 
line, according to the laws now or hereafter in 
force relating to the taking of fish by hook and 
line. 

Section 2. Before making such lease or 
leases the commissioner shall appoint a time 
and place for a hearing upon the application 
therefor and shall give notice of the hearing to 
every town within the limits of which any part 
of said pond lies. 

Section 3. The rental of said pond, arms, 
bays and coves shall be one hundred and twenty- 
five dollars a year, payable by the lessees thereof 
on the first day of March annually to the treas- 
urers of the towns of West Tisbury and Chilmark, 
one half part to each. 

Section 4. Any town within the limits of 
which any part of said pond lies may for the 
purpose of cultivating useful fishes take a lease 
of said pond and appropriate money therefor, at 
the rental aforesaid and upon such conditions as 
may be agreed upon by such town and the afore- 
said commissioners, provided that the said pond 
is not already leased. 

Section 5. The commissioners may fix the 
limits of the said pond and the arms, coves and 
bays connected therewith, which limits being 
recorded in the registry of deeds for said county 
shall be taken to be the legal limits thereof for 
all the purposes of this act. 

Section 6. The commissioners shall have the 
custody of all such leases, and may cause any 
agreements, rights, reservations, forfeitures and 
conditions therein contained to be enforced, and 



FISH LAWS. 31 



for that purpose may institute proceedings in the 
name of the commonwealth and may take pos- 
session of any premises for breach of condition 
of such lease, and after revesting the common- 
wealth therewith may again lease the same. 

Section 7. This act shall take effect upon its 
passage. 

Acts of 1904, Chap. 132. 
Authority of officers on Palmer's river. 

Section 1 . The sheriff of the county of Bristol 
or any of his deputies, or any constable or fish 
warden of either of the towns of Swansea and 
Rehoboth, may without a warrant arrest any 
person whom he finds in the act of taking herring, 
ale wives or shad from the waters of Palmer's 
river in either of said towns in violation of the 
provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty of 
the acts of the year eighteen hundred and thirty- 
six, or of chapter ninety-two of the acts of the 
year eighteen hundred and fifty-two, and may 
detain such person in a place of safe keeping until 
a warrant can be procured upon a complaint 
against him for said offence: provided, that the 
detention without a warrant shall not exceed 
twenty-four hours. 

Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
of either of said chapters shall, in addition to the 
forfeitures therein provided, forfeit the seines 
or nets used in such unlawful taking of herring, 
ale wives or shad. 

REGULATION OF FISHING NEAR FISHWAYS, 
WITH NETS, AND ON CONNECTICUT AND MER- 
RIMAC RIVERS. 
On Connecticut river. 

Section 44. Whoever takes any fish within 
two hundred yards of any fishway on the Con- 
necticut river or its tributaries, or trespasses 
within the limits of such fishway, shall forfeit fifty 
dollars for each offence. Whoever takes any 



32 FISH LAWS. 



fish beyond two hundred and within four hun- 
dred yards of any such fishway, in any other man- 
ner than by artificially or naturally baited hook 
and line, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for each 
fish so taken. 

On Merrimac river. 

Section 45. Whoever takes any fish within 
four hundred yards of any fishway on the Mer- 
rimac river, or trespasses within the limits of 
such fishway, shall forfeit fifty dollars for each 
offence. 

Net fishing season, Merrimac river. 

Section 46. Whoever, from the last day of 
May to the first day of March, uses a net of any 
description in the waters of the Merrimac river or 
any tributary thereof shall forfeit twenty-five 
dollars for each offence. 

Gill net fishing prohibited. 

Section 47. Whoever uses a gill net of any 
description in the waters of the Connecticut or 
Merrimac river or any tributary thereof shall 
forfeit twenty-five dollars for each offence. 

Size of mesh. 

Section 48. Whoever, in taking herring or 
mackerel, except with a dip net, in Mill river and 
its tributaries in the city of Gloucester or the 
towns of Essex and Ipswich, or in Plum Island 
river and its tributaries in the towns of Ipswich, 
Rowley or Newbury, uses a net or seine having a 
mesh of less than one and three-quarters inches 
shall be punished by a fine of twenty-five dollars 
for each offence. 

Size of seine mesh. 

Section 49. Whoever uses in the Connecticut 
Westfield, Deerfield, Miller's, Merrimac, Nashua 
or Housatonic rivers, or any tributary thereof, a 



FISH LAWS. 33 



sweep seine having a mesh which stretches less 
than five inches shall forfeit twenty-five dollars 
for the first offence, and fifty dollars for each sub- 
sequent offence. 

When penalties do not apply. 

Section 50. The penalties prescribed by this 
chapter for unlawful fishing in the Merrimac river 
shall not apply to any person who draws a net or 
seine with a mesh not less than two and one- 
quarter inches after the twentieth day of June in 
each year at any point in said river below the 
Essex-Merrimac bridge, unless he takes salmon 
or shad, nor if, while thus lawfully fishing, he 
takes such fish and immediately returns it alive to 
the waters from which it was taken. 

Regulations on Connecticut river. 

Section 51. Whoever, between the fifteenth 
day of March and the first day of July, sets or 
uses, or aids in setting or using, in the Connecticut 
river, a pound, weir or set net the meshes whereof 
are less than two inches in extent, or between sun- 
set on Saturday and sunrise on Monday sets or 
draws, or aids in setting or drawing, a seine for 
the purpose of taking fish in said river, and any 
person owning or controlling in whole or in part a 
pound, weir or set net of any description, placed in 
said river, who, between sunset and sunrise as 
aforesaid, fails to keep the same open and free for 
the passage of fish in a manner satisfactory to the 
commissioners on fisheries and game shall forfeit 
four hundred dollars for each offence; and, in 
addition, shall forfeit such pounds, weirs and set 
nets. 

Seining- restrictions. 

Section 52. Whoever uses a sweep seine or 
combination of sweep seines in such a manner as 
at any moment to close or seriously obstruct more 
than two-thirds of the width of a stream at the 



34 FISH LAWS. 



place where it is used, or delays or stops in paying 
out or hauling a sweep seine, or hauls a sweep 
seine within one-half mile of a point where such 
seine has been hauled within an hour, shall for- 
feit twenty-five dollars for the first offence, and 
fifty dollars for each subsequent offence; but the 
provisions of this section shall not apply to seines 
used in the smelt fisheries, or to the fisheries for 
shad or alewives in the Taunton Great river, or to 
the fisheries in North river in the county of 
Plymouth. 

Restrictions, North river. 

Section 53. Whoever sets a seine or combi- 
nation of seines over three hundred and eighty- 
five feet in length, or casts a mesh net over three 
hundred and fifty feet in length, in the North 
river in the county of Plymouth shall for each 
offence be punished by a fine not less than twenty- 
five nor more than one hundred dollars or by im- 
prisonment for not less than one nor more than 
three months. 

Fish -wardens in certain towns and cities. 

Section 54. The mayor and aldermen of 
cities and the selectmen of towns bordering on the 
Connecticut or Merrimac river shall appoint and 
fix the compensation of one or more fish wardens 
within their respective cities and towns, who 
shall, respectively, make complaint of all offences 
under the provisions of sections thirty-eight, 
forty-four, forty-five and fifty-one. 

Liability for neglect to appoint wardens. 

Section 55. A city or town whose mayor and 
aldermen or selectmen neglect to appoint and fix 
the compensation of such fish wardens shall 
forfeit not less than one hundred nor more than 
five hundred dollars. 



FISH LAWS. 35 



BLUEFISH. 
In Wellfleet bay. 

Section 56. Whoever takes any bluefish in 
the waters of Wellfleet bay in the town of Well- 
fleet with nets or seines, north and east of 
Smalley's bar inside of a line drawn from Smal- 
ley's bar buoy east-southeast to the eastern 
shore and west-northwest to the western shore, 
shall forfeit one dollar for each bluefish so taken 
or be punished by a fine of not more than one 
hundred dollars. 

TROUT AND SALMON. 

Acts of 1909, Chap. 377, as amended by Acts of 1910, 

Chap. 469. 
Trout and salmon. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for a person 
at any time to buy or sell or offer for sale a trout 
except as hereinafter provided, or to take or have 
in possession trout or salmon between the first 
day of August in any year and the first day of 
April of the year following, or to sell or offer for 
sale or have in possession between the above- 
named dates salmon taken in this Commonwealth, 
or to take a trout or salmon otherwise than by 
naturally or artificially baited hook and hand 
line; or to have in possession at any time a trout 
less than six inches or a salmon less than twelve 
inches in length, unless such trout less than six 
inches or such salmon less than twelve inches 
was taken by a person lawfully fishing, and is im- 
mediately returned alive in the water whence it 
was taken. 

Section 2. Upon written application to the 
commissioners on fisheries and game permission 
shall be granted to any person to buy and sell or 
have in possession, at any season of the year, 
trout artificially propagated and maintained, 
under such rules and regulations, approved by 
the governor and council, as may be made from 
time to time by the commissioners. 



36 FISH LAWS. 



Section 3. Any person violating any provi- 
sion of this act, or any rule or regulation made as 
aforesaid, shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
ing twenty-five dollars for each offence, and the 
commissioners on fisheries and game may, in 
case of a violation of any rule or regulation made 
by them, suspend or revoke any license or permit 
granted by them under authority of this act. 

Section 4. Sections fifty-seven, fifty-eight 
and fifty-nine of chapter ninety-one of the Re- 
vised Laws, chapter one hundred and ninety of 
the acts of the year nineteen hundred and five, 
chapters two hundred and sixty-three and three 
hundred and fourteen of the acts of the yeai nine- 
teen hundred and six, chapter two hundred and 
ninety-six of the acts of the year nineteen hun- 
dred and seven, and all acts and parts of acts in- 
consistent herewith are hereby repealed. 

Screens on the Merrimac. 

Section 60. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game shall, during April, May and June, for 
the better protection of salmon fry in the Merri- 
mac river, cause wire screens to be erected and 
maintained at the entrance of the canals in 
Lowell and Lawrence at the expense of the com- 
panies owning and operating said canals. 

Liability for minors. 

Section 61. If a minor takes a trout in any 
other manner than by hook and line in a town 
which accepts the provisions of this section or has 
accepted the corresponding provisions of earlier 
laws, his guardian shall forfeit one dollar for each 
trout so taken; but all prosecutions under the 
provisions of this section shall be commenced 
within thirty days after the commission of the 
offence. 

Public waters only to be stocked. 

Section 65. No person, corporation or asso- 
ciation shall be provided by the commonwealth 
with trout or trout spawn to stock waters owned 



FISH LAWS. 37 



or leased by him or them or under his or their con- 
trol unless he or they first agree in writing with 
the commissioners on fisheries and game that 
such waters so stocked shall be free for the public 
to fish in during the season in which the taking of 
trout is permitted by law. 

PICKEREL. 

AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1904, CHAP. 329. 

Legal size of pickerel. 

Section 67. Whoever takes from the waters 
of this commonwealth a pickerel less than ten 
inches in length, or sells or offers for sale, or has 
in his possession, with intent to sell any such 
pickerel, shall forfeit one dollar for each pickerel 
so taken, held in possession, sold or offered or 
exposed for sale; and in prosecutions under the 
provisions of this section the possession of pick- 
erel less than ten inches in length shall be prima 
facie evidence to convict. 

Acts of 1905, Chap. 417. 
Apparatus of capture. 

Section 1. A town may by a by-law duly 
enacted and approved as required by law forbid 
the taking or catching of pickerel in any river, 
stream or pond therein in any other manner than 
by naturally or artificially baited hook and hand 
line, and may provide a suitable penalty for the 
violation of such by-law. 

Section 2. Section sixty-eight of chapter 

ninety-one of the Revised Laws, and chapter 

three hundred and sixty-four of the acts of the 

year nineteen hundred and four, are hereby 

repealed. 

BLACK BASS. 
Size. 

Section 70. Whoever takes or sells or offers 
for sale or has in his possession with intent to sell 
a black bass less than eight inches in length shall 
forfeit ten dollars for each fish so taken, sold or 



38 FISH LAWS. 



offered or exposed for sale; and in prosecutions 
under the provisions of this section the possession 
of a black bass less than eight inches in length 
shall be prima facie evidence to convict. 

SMELTS. 
Close season. 

Section 71. Whoever, between the fifteenth 
day of March and the first day of June, sells or 
offers or exposes for sale or has in his possession a 
smelt taken between said dates in this common- 
wealth, shall forfeit one dollar for every such 
smelt; and the possession of a smelt between 
said dates shall be prima facie evidence to con- 
vict. 

Apparatus allowed. 

Section 72. Whoever takes a smelt in any 
other manner than by naturally or artificially 
baited hook and hand line shall, except as pro- 
vided in section seventy-six, forfeit one dollar for 
each smelt so taken; and in all prosecutions 
under the provisions of this section the burden 
of proof shall be upon the defendant to show that 
smelts taken by him were legally caught. 

Exceptions in certain counties. 

Section 73. The provisions of the two pre- 
ceding sections shall not apply to smelts taken in 
a seine or net in the counties of Bristol, Barn- 
stable, Nantucket or Dukes County during the 
time and in the manner in which fishing is allowed 
for perch, herring or ale wives. 

Prohibited apparatus. 

Section 74. No person shall set, draw, use or 
attempt to set, draw or use any net, seine, trap 
or device for catching smelts, other than a 
naturally or artificially baited hook, in the waters 
of Boston harbor, Hingham harbor, Weir river, 
Weymouth Fore river, Weymouth Back river, 
Neponset river, Charles river, Mystic river, or in 



FISH LAWS. 39 



any cove, bay, inlet or tributary thereof ; but the 
provisions of this section shall not prohibit the 
use of traps for catching lobsters. 

What constitutes evidence. 

Section 75. Possession of any net, seine, trap 
or device for catching fish, other than a naturally 
or artificially baited hook, in or upon said har- 
bors, rivers or tributaries, or on the banks of the 
same, if adapted to the present catching of smelts 
and apparently intended for that purpose, shall 
be deemed prima facie evidence of a violation of 
the provisions of the preceding section, and the 
possession of any fresh smelts, not apparently 
caught by the use of a hook, in or upon said har- 
bors, rivers or tributaries, or on the banks of 
the same, after sunset or under other circum- 
stances of suspicion, shall be deemed prima facie 
evidence that said smelts were caught contrary 
to the provisions of the preceding section by the 
person in whose possession they are found. 

Penalties. 

Section 76. Whoever violates the provi- 
sions of section seventy-four or receives smelts 
knowing or having reasonable cause to believe 
that the same have been taken contrary to the 
provisions of said section shall, for a first offence, 
be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor 
more than two hundred dollars or by imprison- 
ment for not less than six nor more than twelve 
months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, 
and, for a second offence, by both said fine and 
imprisonment. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 306. 

Towns of Weymouth and Braintree may regulate the 
taking of smelts in the waters of Weymouth Fore 
river and Weymouth Back river. 

Section 1. By joint action the selectmen of 
the towns of Weymouth and Braintree, if so in- 
structed by their towns, may grant permits for 



40 FISH LAWS. 



the taking of smelts in the close season between 
the fifteenth day of March and the fifteenth day 
of April, both dates inclusive, in the Weymouth 
Fore river and the Weymouth Back river. Such 
permits shall prescribe the time and methods of 
so taking smelts, and the said selectmen may 
make such other regulations in regard to said 
fishery as they may deem expedient: provided, 
that the fish so taken shall be in quantities not 
exceeding thirty-six fish in any one day by any 
one person. The smelts so taken shall not be 
sold or offered for sale at any time. Any person 
receiving smelts under this act who sells, gives 
away or disposes of the same, in any manner, to 
persons other than his own family shall be sub- 
ject to the penalty herein provided. 

Section 2. The board of commissioners on 
fisheries and game may alter or annul any rule, 
regulation or by-law, relative to the taking of 
smelts under this act, if, in their opinion, the 
same is prejudicial to the maintenance of the 
fisheries. 

Section 3. The towns of Weymouth and 
Braintree are hereby authorized to take or ac- 
quire by purchase or otherwise such lands or 
rights in lands along the said rivers as may be 
convenient for fishing therein, and may appro- 
priate money for carrying out the provisions of 
this act. The selectmen and any persons em- 
ployed by them or authorized by them to take 
fish under the provisions of this act may go upon 
and pass over the lands of any person through 
or by which either of the said rivers run, pro- 
vided that they shall enter upon or pass over 
such lands at such times and places as the se- 
lectmen shall prescribe, and only for the pur- 
pose of protecting the said fishery or of taking 
the said fish, and shall do no more damage to 
said lands than is unavoidable. Any person who 
shall prevent or hinder the selectmen or any 
person authorized by them in the proper use of 



FISH LAWS. 41 



the said lands, as above provided, shall forfeit a 
sum not exceeding twenty dollars for each offence. 

Section 4. Any person not authorized by the 
selectmen of the said towns as above provided 
who shall fish in the said rivers at any time in the 
close season, and any person who violates any 
provision of this act shall be liable to a fine of one 
dollar for each fish or part thereof in respect to 
which the violation occurs. 

Section 5. This act shall take effect upon its 
acceptance by a majority vote of the legal voters 
of the said towns present and voting thereon at 
any annual or special town meeting. 

Eight of Search. 

Section 77. Any commissioner on fisheries 
and game, deputy commissioner, member of the 
district police, sheriff, deputy sheriff, police 
officer or constable, within his jurisdiction, may 
search for and seize, without warrant, any 
smelts which he has reason to suspect were taken 
contrary to the provisions of section seventy- 
four, and the net, seine, trap or other device and 
the vessel, boat, craft or other apparatus used in 
connection with such receiving, or other violation 
of said section, and the cask, barrel or other 
vessel or wrapper containing said smelts. Said 
officer may libel said property according to law, 
or, at his discretion, sell the same or any part 
thereof at private sale or by public auction, and 
libel the net proceeds of such sale according to 
law, in the same manner and with the same effect 
as if such proceeds were the property itself. 

FORFEITURE OF FISH, BOATS, ETC. 
Forfeiture of boats and apparatus. 

Section 78. Whoever takes any fish in vio- 
lation of the provisions of section twenty-six, 
twenty-nine, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty- 
nine, forty, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, 



42 FISH LAWS. 



forty-seven, fifty-eight, sixty-two, sixty-eight, 
sixty-nine, seventy-two, or one hundred and 
thirty-two, or whoever violates the provisions 
of sections twenty-six, thirty-three or seventy- 
six shall, in addition to the penalties therein 
provided, forfeit the boat and apparatus used. 

Forfeiture of fish and apparatus. 

Section 79. Whoever violates the provisions 
of sections twenty-six, thirty-two, forty-one, 
forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty-two and fifty-nine 
shall, in addition to the penalties therein pro- 
vided, forfeit the fish taken and the apparatus 
used. 

Duty of superintendents, clerks and others. 

Section 80. Every superintendent, clerk or 
other person who has charge of a market, pro- 
vision store or other place in which fish are sold, 
and who has reasonable cause to believe that any 
fish taken in violation of law has been offered for 
sale on such premises, shall immediately give in- 
formation thereof to a constable or trial justice 
in the city or town in which said premises are 
situated; and for each neglect so to do shall be 
punished by a fine of not less than five nor more 
than fifty dollars. 

PIKE PERCH. 

Acts of 1908, Chap. 488. 
Relative to pike perch caught in certain waters. 

Section 1. No corporation, association or 
person who shall have in possession in this com- 
monwealth any pike perch caught in that part of 
Lake Champlain or its tributaries known as 
Missisquoi bay, lying and being in the province 
of Quebec, or in the Richelieu river, which is the 
outlet of said lake, between February first and 
June first. 

Section 2. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game and their deputies are hereby author- 



FISH LAWS. 43 



ized to search for, to seize, and to confiscate, 
without a warrant, pike perch held in possession 
in violation of the preceding section, and it shall 
be the duty of every officer designated in section 
four of chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws, 
thus without a warrant to search for and seize 
pike perch so held in possession, and to report 
the seizure to the said commissioners, who shall 
authorize the sale of such fish; and the proceeds 
of such sale shall be paid into the treasury of the 
commonwealth. 

Section 3. Any company, association or per- 
son violating the provisions of this act shall be 
liable to a penalty of fifty dollars, and ten dollars 
additional for each pike perch held in possession 
in violation of the provisions of this act. Chapter 
one hundred and seventy-nine of the acts of the 
year nineteen hundred and six is hereby repealed. 

SHINERS AND STURGEON. 

Acts of 1906, Chap. 239. 
Taking of shiners for bait. 

Section 1. It shall be lawful to take shiners 
for bait in any of the waters of the common- 
wealth by means of a circular or hoop net not 
exceeding six feet in diameter, or by means of a 
rectangular net other than a seine, containing not 
more than thirty-six square feet of net surface. 

Section 2. The provisions of section twenty- 
six of chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws, 
as amended by chapter three hundred and eight 
of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and four; 
and of section one hundred and thirty-two of said 
chapter ninety-one, shall not apply to a person 
taking fish other than shiners by means of the 
apparatus described in section one: provided, 
that such other fish are immediate^ returned 
alive to the water. 



44 FISH LAWS. 



AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1905, CHAP. 181. 

Taking shiners for bait in the Merrimac and Connecti- 
cut rivers. 

Section 81. During October and November 
any person may, for the purpose of taking 
shiners for bait, draw a net or seine at any point 
in the Merrimac and Connecticut rivers, and their 
tributaries, except within four hundred yards of 
any fishway; and if any other fish so caught are 
immediately returned alive to the waters from 
which they were taken, the penalties prescribed 
in sections forty-six, forty-seven, forty-nine, 
seventy-eight and seventy-nine shall not apply to 
the taking of such fish. 

Sturgeon nets. 

Section 82. A person who uses a net or seine 
having a mesh which stretches at least twelve 
inches shall not incur a penalty for taking stur- 
geon in the tidal waters of the Merrimac river. 

EELS, CLAMS, QUAHAUGS AND SCALLOPS. 

Acts of 1910, Chap. 177. 
The taking of scallops. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to take from 
the flats or waters of the commonwealth scallops 
other than adult scallops, or to sell or offer for 
sale or have in possession such scallops so taken. 
For the purposes of this act an adult scallop shall 
be a scallop with a well defined raised annual 
growth line. Scallops taken from the tide waters 
of the commonwealth shall be culled out when 
taken, and all scallops other than adult scallops 
so taken shall immediately be returned alive to 
tide water which is at least three feet deep at 
mean low water, but the provisions of this sec- 
tion shall not apply to scallops other than adult 
scallops unavoidably taken: provided, that the 
number so taken at any one time does not exceed 
five per cent of the total catch after being culled 



FISH LAWS. 45 



as herein provided. All scallops taken in ac- 
cordance with the provisions of this act shall be 
taken ashore in the shell. 

Section 2. No person shall take scallops be- 
tween the first day of April and the first day of 
October from the flats or waters of the common- 
wealth, or buy or sell or have in possession scal- 
lops so taken; but the provisions of this section 
shall not apply to the taking of scallops for bait 
in the waters adjacent to the town of Nantucket 
from the first day of April to the fifteenth day of 
May, inclusive, nor shall they prohibit any person 
at any time from taking scallops by hand for 
food for his own personal or family use. 

Section 3. No person shall take more than 
ten bushels of scallops including shells in one day. 

Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
ceeding twenty-five dollars. Possession of scal- 
lops, other than adult scallops, except as is other- 
wise provided in section one, shall be prima facie 
evidence that such scallops were taken contrary 
to law. 

Section 5. Chapter four hundred and three 
of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine 
and all acts and parts of acts inconsistent here- 
with are hereby repealed. 

City and town jurisdiction. 

Section 85. The mayor and aldermen of 
cities and the selectmen of towns, if so instructed 
by their cities and towns, may, except as pro- 
vided in the two preceding sections, control, 
regulate or prohibit the taking of eels, clams, 
quahaugs and scallops within the same; and 
may grant permits prescribing the times and 
methods of taking eels and such shellfish within 
such cities and towns and make such other regu- 
lations in regard to said fisheries as they may 
deem expedient. But an inhabitant of the com- 
monwealth, without such permit, may take eels 



46 FISH LAWS. 



and the shellfish above-named for his own family 
use from the waters of his own or any other city 
or town, and may take from the waters of his 
own city or town any of such shellfish for bait, 
not exceeding three bushels, including shells, in 
any one day, subject to the general rules of the 
mayor and aldermen and selectmen, respectively, 
as to the times and methods of taking such fish. 
The provisions of this section shall not authorize 
the taking of fish in violation of the provisions 
of sections forty-four and forty-five. Whoever 
takes any eels or any of said shellfish without 
such permit, and in violation of the provisions 
of this section, shall forfeit not less than three nor 
more than fifty dollars. 

Acts of 1904, Chap. 269. 
Quahaugs in Eastham, Orleans and Wellfleet. 

Section 1. No person shall take quahaugs 
from their natural beds, or wilfully obstruct or 
interfere with such natural beds, within the towns 
of Eastham, Orleans, and Wellfleet except as 
hereinafter provided. 

Section 2. No inhabitant of said towns shall 
sell or offer for sale little neck clams or quahaugs 
which measure less than one and one half inches 
across the widest part, and no person shall in an}' 
of said towns sell or offer for sale little neck clams 
or quahaugs which measure less than one and 
one half inches across the widest part. 

Section 3. The selectmen of any one of said 
towns may give to any inhabitants of any of said 
towns permits in writing to take quahaugs from 
their beds in the towns which the selectmen rep- 
resent at such times, in such quantities and for 
such uses as they shall deem expedient. Such 
permits shall be good for such time as the select- 
men may determine, not exceeding one year. 
Any inhabitant of the commonwealth may with- 
out such permit take from the natural beds in said 
towns, quahaugs for the use of his family, not 



FISH LAWS. 47 



exceeding in quantity one bushel, including shells, 
in any one day; and any fisherman may without 
such permit take quahaugs from the natural beds 
in his own town for bait for his own use, not ex- 
ceeding in quantity one bushel, including shells, 
in any one day. 

Section 4. The selectmen of the said towns 
may, in their respective towns, grant licenses or 
permits for such periods, not exceeding two 
years, and under such conditions as they may 
deem proper, not however covering more than 
seventy-five feet square in area, to any inhab- 
itants of the towns to bed quahaugs in any waters, 
flats and creeks within the town at any place 
where there is no natural quahaug bed, not im- 
pairing the private rights of any person or materi- 
ally obstructing any navigable waters. It shall 
be unlawful for any person, except the licensee 
and his agents, to take any quahaugs in or re- 
move them from the territory covered by any 
such license. 

Section 5. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act or of any regulation made by the 
selectmen under authority hereof shall be pun- 
ished by a fine of not more than one hundred 
dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six 
months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 

Section 6 [as amended by Acts of 1905, Chap. 
265]. So much of section eighty-five of chapter 
ninety-one of the Revised Laws as is inconsistent 
herewith shall not apply to the said towns; and 
nothing herein contained shall be construed to 
affect the rights of the inhabitants of Orleans and 
Eastham under section five of chapter sixty-four 
of the acts of the year seventeen hundred and 
ninety-six, approved March third, seventeen 
hundred and ninety-seven. 

Section 7. This act shall take effect in any of 
said towns only upon its acceptance by a ma- 
jority of the voters thereof present and voting 
thereon at a meeting called for the purpose. 



48 FISH LAWS. 



Acts of 1904, Chap. 282. 
Cultivation of shellfish. 

Section 1. Cities by a two thirds vote of each 
branch of the city council in cities having a com- 
mon council and a board of aldermen, or by a 
two thirds vote of the board of aldermen in 
cities not having a common council, and towns 
by a two thirds vote of the voters present and 
voting thereon at any town meeting called for the 
purpose, may appropriate money for the culti- 
vation, propagation and protection of shellfish. 
The mayor and aldermen of cities, and the select- 
men of towns, when so authorized by their re- 
spective cities and towns, may declare from time 
to time a close season for shellfish for not more 
than three years in such waters or flats within 
the limits of their respective cities and towns as 
they deem proper, and may plant and grow shell- 
fish in such waters and flats: provided, that no 
private rights are impaired ; and provided, further, 
that when any close season, declared as aforesaid, 
shall have ended, the flats and waters so closed 
shall be opened subject to the provisions of sec- 
tion eighty-five of chapter ninety-one of the Re- 
vised Laws, and of any special laws. 

Section 2. Whoever takes shellfish in viola- 
tion of the provisions of this act shall forfeit not 
less than three nor more than fifty dollars. Any 
officer qualified to serve criminal process, and 
special constables, designated under the pro- 
visions of section one hundred and thirty-four of 
chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws, shall 
have power to enforce the provisions of this act, 
with all the powers conferred by said section. 

Section 3. District courts and trial justices 
shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the 
superior court of all offences under this act. 



FISH LAWS. 49 



Acts of 1909, Chap. 469. 
Planting, cultivating and bedding quahaugs. 

Section 1. Upon an application in writing, 
the mayor and aldermen of a city or the selectmen 
of a town may grant a written license subject to 
such rules and regulations as are approved by the 
city council of the city, or by the voters of the 
town at an annual or special town meeting, for 
the purpose of planting and cultivating quahaugs 
upon and in the flats and creeks of their respec- 
tive cities and towns below mean low water mark 
and within the limits to be specified in the license, 
for a term of not more than ten or less than five 
years, to any person who has resided in the state 
or has been a taxpayer in the city or town for not 
less than one year preceding the date of his appli- 
cation ; and all such licenses may be assigned by 
the licensee to any person who has been a resident 
of the state or a taxpayer in the city or town for 
not less than one year preceding the date of the 
assignment, but shall not be assigned or trans- 
ferred without the written consent of the mayor 
and aldermen of such city or the selectmen of 
such town. 

Section 2. The mayor and aldermen of a 
city or the selectmen of a town may grant to any 
person who has received a license in accordance 
with the provisions of the preceding section an 
additional license for the purpose of bedding qua- 
haugs and of gathering the seed from the same 
between high and low water mark for such period, 
not exceeding five years, and under such condi- 
tions as they may deem proper. The territory 
to be covered by the said license shall not include 
more than one half acre. 

Section 3. The licenses herein provided for 
shall not be granted if their exercises would ma- 
terially obstruct navigable water. No license 
shall be granted under this act until after a public 
hearing, stating the name and residence of the 



50 FISH LAWS. 



applicant, the date of the filing of the application, 
the location, area, and description of the grounds 
applied for, due notice of which has been posted 
in three or more public places, and published in 
a newspaper, if there be any, published in the city 
or town in which the premises are situated, at 
least ten days before the time fixed for the hear- 
ing. 

Section 4. It shall be unlawful, for any per- 
son, except the licensee or his agents or assignees, 
to dig or take quahaugs or quahaug seed within 
the territory covered by a license granted here- 
under, or to remove the same from the said ter- 
ritory. 

Section 5. A license granted hereunder shall 
describe by metes and bounds the waters, flats 
and creeks to which the license is applicable, and 
it shall have no force until it is recorded with the 
clerk of the city or town granting the same, and 
the licensee shall pay annually to the city or town 
a fee of not less than one dollar nor more than five 
dollars per acre for the license, as the mayor and 
aldermen of the city and the selectmen of the 
town may determine. A recording fee of fifty 
cents shall be paid to the clerk of the city or town 
for recording the said license or an assignment 
thereof. The said license and any assignments 
thereof shall be recorded in a book to be kept for 
the purpose in the office of the clerk of the city 
or town, and such books shall be open to inspec- 
tion by the public. Forms for licenses and for 
assignments shall be provided by the mayor and 
aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town at 
the expense of the citjr or town. 

Section 6. Before granting any license here- 
under, the mayor and aldermen of a city or the 
selectmen of a town shall cause to be made a sur- 
vey and plan of the territory within which li- 
censes are to be granted, and shall cause to be 
marked upon a copy of such plan to be kept in 
the office of the city or town clerk the territory 



FISH LAWS. 51 



covered by any license issued by them. It shall 
be the duty of the licensee upon receiving his 
license to cause the territory covered thereby to 
be plainly marked out by stakes, buoys, ranges 
or monuments which shall be maintained by him 
during the term of the license. Failure to place 
or to maintain the same shall be sufficient cause 
for revocation of the license by the authority 
granting the same. 

Section 7. If it appears to the mayor and 
aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town 
granting a license hereunder that the licensee or 
his assignee does not actually occupy and use in 
good faith for the purpose specified in sections 
one and two the territory covered by the license, 
they shall petition the superior court of the 
county wherein the territory is situated to ap- 
point a commission of one or more persons to in- 
vestigate and report to the court as to the use 
and occupancy of such territory; and the court 
shall appoint a commission of one or more per- 
sons who, after twelve days' notice to the peti- 
tioners and the respondent, shall hear the peti- 
tioners and respondent and shall transmit their 
findings to the court. If it shall appear to the 
court that the said territory is not used and occu- 
pied in good faith for the purpose stated in the 
license, the court may order that use of the terri- 
tory shall revert to the city or town and that all 
stakes or buoys or other appliances marking the 
same shall be removed. The costs upon said 
petition shall be assessed as the court may direct. 

Section 8. The licensee, his heirs or assignees 
shall for the purposes described in the license 
have the exclusive use of the territory described 
therein during the term of the license and may in 
an action of tort recover treble damages of any 
person who, without his or their consent, digs or 
takes quahaugs or other shellfish in the territory 
covered by the license or removes the same there- 
from. Whoever so digs, takes or removes qua- 



52 FISH LAWS. 



haugs or other shellfish shall, in addition, be 
subject to a penalty of twenty dollars for each 
offence. 

Section 9. All acts and parts of acts incon- 
sistent herewith are hereby repealed. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 499. 

Planting and cultivating clams and quahaugs in the 
town of Barnstable. 

Section 1. The selectmen of the town of 
Barnstable may, by a writing under their hands, 
grant a license for such a term of years, not ex- 
ceeding five, as they, in their discretion, may 
deem for the public good, to any citizen of the 
said town, to plant, cultivate and dig clams and 
quahaugs upon and in any flats and creeks in the 
town ; not, however, impairing the private rights 
of any person. The territory covered by any 
such license shall not be less than two nor more 
than five acres for each clam or quahaus; grant. 
The license may be assigned by the licensee to 
any person who is a citizen of the town, but only 
with the written consent of the selectmen. 

Section 2. The licenses herein provided for 
shall not be granted if their exercise would ma- 
terially obstruct navigable waters. No license 
shall be granted under this act until after a public 
hearing, notice of which has been given in a news- 
paper published in said town at least ten days be- 
fore the hearing. Such notice shall state the date 
of the hearing, the name and residence of the ap- 
plicant, the date of the filing of the application, 
and the location, area, and description of the 
grounds applied for. 

Section 3. The license shall describe by 
metes and bounds the flats and creeks so appro- 
priated, and shall be recorded by the town clerk 
before it shall have any force; and the licensee 
shall pay to the selectmen for their use two dol- 
lars, and to the town clerk fifty cents. 

Section 4. The licensee, and his heirs and 
assigns, shall, for the purposes aforesaid, have 



FISH LAWS. 53 



the exclusive use of the flats and creeks described 
in the license, during the time specified therein, 
and may in an action of tort recover treble dam- 
ages of any person who, without his or their con- 
sent, digs or takes clams and quahaugs from such 
flats or creeks during the continuance of the li- 
cense. 

Section 5. The town of Barnstable, at any 
legal meeting called for the purpose, may make 
such by-laws as the town may from time to time 
deem expedient, to protect and preserve the 
shellfisheries within said town: provided, always, 
that no such by-law shall infringe the laws of the 
commonwealth . 

Section 6. If it appears to the selectmen that 
the licensee, or his heirs or assigns, for a period 
of two years fail actually to use and occupy the 
grant for the purposes specified in the license, 
they may, after a public hearing, thirty days' 
notice of which shall be given to the licensee, re- 
voke the license, and the use of the territory 
shall revert to the town. 

Section 7. Whoever takes any shellfish from 
the waters of the town of Barnstable in violation 
of anj'- by-law established by the town, or of any 
provision of this act, shall for every offence pay a 
fine of not less than five nor more than ten dollars, 
and the costs of prosecution, and one dollar for 
every bushel of shellfish so taken. 

Section 8. All acts and parts of acts incon- 
sistent herewith are hereby repealed. 

Acts of 1906, Chap. 477. 
Protection of shellfish in the town of Dartmouth. 

Section 1. No person shall take any shellfish 
from their beds or wilfully obstruct the growth 
of any shellfish within the town of Dartmouth, 
except as is hereinafter provided. 

Section 2. The selectmen of said town may 
give permits in writing to any person to take 
shellfish from their beds within said town at such 
times, in such quantities, for such uses and by 



54 FISH LAWS. 



such methods as they shall deem expedient. 
They shall grant such permits to any inhabitant 
of the town to take from the beds in said town 
shellfish for the use of himself and his family not 
exceeding in quantity one half bushel including 
shells in any one day. They shall grant such 
permits to any fishermen to take shellfish from 
said beds for bait for his own use not exceeding in 
quantity one bushel including shells in any one 
day. Such permits shall be signed by the select- 
men, shall be recorded in a book kept for the pur- 
pose and shall remain in force for one year from 
their date. 

Section 3. Every person taking shellfish 
from their beds within said town under the pro- 
visions of this act shall at the time of such taking 
have with him the permit granted to him as 
above provided and shall exhibit it upon demand 
to any constable of the town or other officer 
charged with the duty of enforcing the provisions 
of this act. 

Section 4. No person shall take from their 
beds in said town or sell or offer for sale or have 
in his possession any little neck clams or quahaugs 
measuring less than one and one half inches 
across the widest part. 

Section 5. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
than ten or more than one hundred dollars. 

Section 6. The third district court of Bristol 
shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the su- 
perior court of all offences under this act. 

Section 7. So much of section eighty-five of 
chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws as is 
inconsistent herewith shall not apply to the town 
of Dartmouth. 

LOBSTERS, TAUTOG AND OTHER FISH. 

Egg lobsters. 

Section 86. Whoever at any time catches or 
takes or has in his possession with intent to sell, 
or sells, any female lobster bearing eggs shall be 



FISH LAWS. 55 



punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more 
than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for 
not less than one nor more than three months for 
each offence; but a person who catches or takes 
any such lobster and immediately returns it alive 
to the waters from which it was taken shall not 
be subject to such penalty. The provisions of 
this section shall not apply to lobsters spawning 
in lobster cars if they are immediately returned 
alive to the waters from which they were taken. 
Exposure for sale or possession otherwise than as 
herein provided shall be prima facie evidence of 
an intent to sell. 

Town officers to enforce preceding section. 

Section 87. The mayor and aldermen of 
cities, the selectmen of towns, police officers and 
constables shall cause the provisions of the pre- 
ceding section to be enforced in their respective 
cities and towns. 

AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1907, CHAP. 303. 

Legal length of lobsters. 

Section 88. Whoever sells or offers for sale or 
has in his possession an uncooked lobster less than 
nine inches in length, or a cooked lobster less than 
eight and three quarters inches in length, meas- 
uring from the extremity of the bone protruding 
from the head to the end of the bone of the middle 
flipper of the tail of the lobster, extended on its 
back its natural length, shall forfeit not more 
than five dollars for every such lobster, one half 
to the use of the city or town in which the offence 
is committed and one half to the commonwealth; 
and in all prosecutions under the provisions of 
this section any mutilation of a lobster, cooked 
or uncooked, which affects its measurements shall 
be prima facie evidence that the lobster is less 
than the required length and the possession of any 
lobster, cooked or uncooked, which is not of the 
required length shall be prima facie evidence to 
convict. 



56 FISH LAWS. 



Mutilation unlawful. 

Section 89. Whoever, before a lobster is 
cooked, mutilates it by severing the tail from the 
body, or has such tail in possession, shall be 
punished by a fine of five dollars for each offence ; 
and in all prosecutions under the provisions of 
this section the possession, by any person, of the 
tail of any uncooked lobster so severed from the 
body shall be prima facie evidence to convict. 

Detail of district police. 

Section 90. The governor, upon the written 
request of the commissioners on fisheries and 
game or one of them, may detail one or more of 
the district police from any district or town to 
enforce the provisions of section eighty-eight. 

Right of search. 

Section 91. For the purpose of enforcing the 
provisions of section eighty-eight, any one of the 
commissioners on fisheries and game or their 
deputy or any member of the district police may 
search in suspected places for, seize and remove 
lobsters which have been unlawfully taken, held 
or offered for sale. 

Acts of 1909, Chap. 265. 
Catching of lobsters restricted to residents. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
son not being a citizen of the commonwealth to 
set or cause to be set any net or trap for the catch- 
ing of lobsters in the waters of the commonwealth, 
unless such person has been a continuous resident 
of the state for at least one year prior to such 
setting or keeping: provided, however, that the 
mayor and aldermen of any city, or the select- 
men of any town may grant permits in writing to 
any temporary resident of such city or town to 
set lobster pots in the waters thereof for his own 
family use. 



FISH LAWS. 57 



Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
ing twenty dollars for each offence. 

Section 3. Any commissioner of fisheries 
and game, or deputy commissioner, and any mem- 
ber of the district police, and any deputy sheriff, 
police officer or constable, within his jurisdiction, 
may seize and destroy any pot set or kept in vio- 
lation of this act. 

Section 4. Section ninety-two of chapter 
ninety-one of the Revised Laws is hereby re- 
pealed. 

Commissioners' rights. 

Section 93. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game may occupy and use any small es- 
tuaries or creeks within the commonwealth, not 
exceeding six, for the scientific investigation of 
the habits, propagation and distribution of lob- 
sters, if such occupation and use does not impair 
the private rights of any person or materially 
obstruct any navigable waters. Notice of such 
occupation shall be conspicuously posted and 
maintained by said commissioners at the nearest 
points to said estuaries and creeks, and shall be 
recorded in the registry of deeds in the county in 
which they are situated. 

Penalty. 

Section 94. Whoever, after the posting and 
recording of such notice, catches or takes any 
lobster from any estuary or creek so occupied as 
aforesaid shall be punished as provided in section 
eighty-six. 

Non-residential prohibition upon taking lobsters and 
fish in Fairhaven, New Bedford, Dartmouth and 
Westport. 

Section 95. No person living without this 
commonwealth shall take any lobsters, tautog, 
bass or other fish within the harbors, streams or 
waters of Fairhaven, New Bedford, Dartmouth 



58 FISH LAWS. 



or Westport for the purpose of carrying them 
thence in vessels or smacks of any size whatever 
owned without this commonwealth, nor in any of 
more than fifteen tons burden owned within this 
commonwealth, under a penalty of ten dollars 
for each offence and a forfeiture of all fish and 
lobsters so taken. 

Territorial definition. 

Section 96. For the purposes of the preceding 
section, the waters and shores of the places 
therein mentioned shall be deemed to extend 
from the line of the state of Rhode Island to the 
line of the county of Plymouth, and to include all 
the waters, islands and rocks lying within one 
mile of the mainland. 

Penalty. 

Section 97. If, within the harbors, streams, 
or waters of any place on the sea coast which 
accepts the provisions of this section or has 
accepted the corresponding provisions of earlier 
laws, a person who lives without the common- 
wealth takes, for the purpose of carrying thence, 
any lobsters, tautog, bass, bluefish or scuppaug, 
or if a person who lives in this commonwealth 
takes and carries away from such place any such 
fish or lobsters in vessels or smacks of more than 
fifteen tons burden, he shall forfeit for each 
offence not more than twenty dollars, and all the 
fish and lobsters so taken. 

Transportation from Provincetown. 

Section 98. No person shall take lobsters 
within the waters and shores of the town of 
Provincetown for the purpose of carrying them 
from said waters in a vessel or smack of more 
than fifteen tons burden, or for the purpose of 
putting them on board of such vessel or smack to 
be transported to any place, unless a permit is 
first obtained therefor from the selectmen of said 



FISH LAWS. 59 



town, who may grant the same for such amount, 
to be paid to the use of the town, as they shall 
deem proper. Whoever violates the provisions 
of this section shall forfeit ten dollars for each 
offence; and a further amount of ten dollars for 
every hundred lobsters over the first hundred 
taken or found on board of any such vessel or 
smack, and in that proportion for any smaller 
number. For the purposes of this section, the 
waters and shores of Provincetown shall be 
deemed to be as follows: beginning at Race 
Point, one half mile from the shore, and thence 
running by said shore to the end of Long Point 
which forms the harbor of Provincetown, and 
from the end of Long Point one half mile and in- 
cluding the harbor within the town of Province- 
town. 

Limitation in Buzzard's bay. 

Section 99. Whoever, between the first day 
of April and the first day of July, inclusive, takes 
more than one hundred pounds a week of lob- 
sters, tautog, bass or scuppaug in the bays, har- 
bors, ponds, rivers or creeks of the waters of 
Buzzard's bay, within one mile from the shore 
and within the jurisdiction of the towns of 
Bourne and Wareham, shall forfeit not more 
than fifty dollars. 

Acts of 1904, Chap. 408. 
Authorizing 1 purchase of egg-bearing lobsters. 

Section 1. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game are hereby authorized and empowered 
to purchase, at a rate not exceeding twenty-five 
per cent above the market price, lobsters with 
eggs attached, caught along the shore of this 
commonwealth. Whoever catches any such 
lobsters with eggs attached may, after receiving 
a permit from the commissioners on fisheries and 
game, safely store the same in lobster cars or 
sections of cars used for that purpose only, and 



60 FISH LAWS. 



may keep them separate from other lobsters until 
such time as the said commissioners or some per- 
son or persons designated by them can gather 
and pay for them. The commissioners and their 
agent shall liberate them in the vicinity of the 
location where they were caught ; or they may at 
their discretion sell any portion or all of them to 
the officer in charge of the United States fish 
hatchery for artificial propagation, the proceeds 
to be applied to the appropriation made for the 
enforcement of this act. 

OYSTERS AND OTHER SHELLFISH. 

Oysters. 

Section 100. Whoever takes oysters from 
their beds, or destroys them or wilfully obstructs 
their growth therein, except as is provided in the 
following sections, shall forfeit two dollars for 
every bushel of oysters, including the shells, so 
taken or destroyed. 

Town officials may grant permits. 

Section 101. The mayor and aldermen of a 
city or selectmen of a town in which there are 
oyster beds may grant a permit in writing to any 
person to take oysters from their beds at such 
times, in such quantities and for such uses as they 
shall express in their permit; but every inhab- 
itant of such city or town, except the town of 
Yarmouth, may, without such permit, take 
oysters from the beds therein for the use of his 
family, from the first day of September to the 
first day of June, not exceeding in any week two 
bushels, including shells. 

Penalties and permits. 

Section 102. Whoever takes any other shell- 
fish from their beds, or destroys them or wilfully 
obstructs their growth therein, except as is here- 
inafter provided, shall forfeit one dollar for 
every bushel of such other shellfish, including 



FISH LAWS. 61 



the shells. But the mayor and aldermen of a 
city or selectmen of a town may at any time give 
a permit in writing to any person to take such 
other shellfish from their beds therein, at such 
times, in such quantities and for such uses as 
they shall express in their permit; but every in- 
habitant of each of said places may, without such 
permit, take such other shellfish from the beds 
therein for the use of his family. 

Rights of Indians and fishermen. 

Section 103. The provisions of the three pre- 
ceding sections shall not deprive native Indians 
of the privilege of digging shellfish for their own 
consumption, or prevent a fisherman, who is an 
inhabitant of this commonwealth, from taking 
shellfish which he may want for bait, not exceed- 
ing at any one time seven bushels, including the 
shells. 

Oyster licenses. 

Section 104. The mayor and aldermen of a 
city or selectmen of a town may, by writing under 
their hands, grant a license for a term not ex- 
ceeding ten years to any inhabitant thereof to 
plant, grow and dig oysters at all times of the 
year, or to plant oyster shells for the purpose of 
catching oyster seed, upon and in any waters, 
flats and creeks therein, at any place where 
there is no natural oyster bed; not, however, 
impairing the private rights of any person, nor 
materially obstructing any navigable waters. 

Limits of areas. 

Section 105. Such license shall describe by 
metes and bounds the waters, flats and creeks 
so appropriated and shall be recorded by the city 
or town clerk before it shall have any force, and 
the licensee shall pay to the mayor and alder- 
men or selectmen, for their use, two dollars, and 
to the clerk fifty cents. The shore line of such 



62 FISH LAWS. 



licensed premises shall be the line of mean low 
water for the planting and growing of oysters, 
and the line of high water for the planting of 
oyster shells, but the provisions of this section 
shall not authorize the placing of such shells 
upon the land of a riparian owner between high 
and low water mark without his written consent. 

Public hearings. 

Section 106. Such license shall not be granted 
until after a public hearing, due notice of which 
shall have been posted in three or more public 
places in the city or town in which the premises 
are situated at least seven days before the time 
fixed for such hearing. 

Who can have a license. 

Section 107. Such license shall be granted, 
assigned or transferred only to inhabitants of the 
city or town in which the licensed premises are 
situated, and shall not be assigned or transferred 
without the written consent of the mayor and 
aldermen of such city or the selectmen of such 
town. 

Rights of licensee. 

Section 108. The licensee, his heirs and 
assigns shall, for the purposes aforesaid, have the 
exclusive use of the waters, flats and creeks 
described in the license during the time therein 
specified; and may, in an action of tort, recover 
treble damages of any person who, without his or 
their consent, digs or takes oysters or oyster 
shells from such waters, flats or creeks during the 
continuance of the license; and whoever digs or 
takes oysters or oyster shells therefrom without 
such consent shall also forfeit twenty dollars for 
each offence. 

Revocation of license. 

Section 109. If the licensee fails for two 
years after the license has been granted to plant 



FISH LAWS. 63 



and grow oysters or to plant oyster shells in the 
waters, flats or creeks described in the license, it 
shall be revoked by the officers who granted it 
and the revocation shall be recorded by the city 
or town clerk. 

Prohibition of night fishing. 

Section 110. No person shall dig, take or 
carry away any oysters or oyster shells between 
one hour after sunset and one hour before sun- 
rise, by any method whatever, from any waters, 
flats or creeks for which a license has been granted 
under the provisions of section one hundred and 
four. A licensee who violates the provisions of 
this chapter relative to the planting and growing 
of oysters or the planting of oyster shells, shall, 
in addition to the penalties hereinafter provided, 
forfeit his license and the oysters remaining on 
the licensed premises. 

Penalties. 

Section 111. Whoever violates the provisions 
of the preceding section, or whoever, without the 
consent of the licensee, digs or takes any oysters 
or oyster shells from any waters, flats or creeks 
described in any license granted under the pro- 
visions of section one hundred and four, during 
the continuance of such license, shall be punished 
by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars 
or by imprisonment for not less than thirty days 
nor more than six months, or by both such fine 
and imprisonment. 

Trespass forbidden. 

Section 112. Whoever works a dredge, 
oyster tongs or rakes, or any other implement for 
the taking of shellfish of any description, upon 
any oyster grounds or beds, other than public 
grounds or beds, without the consent of the 
licensee, lessee or owner thereof, or whoever, 
while upon or sailing over any such grounds or 



64 FISH LAWS. 



beds, casts, hauls, or has overboard any such 
dredge, tongs, rake or other implement for the 
taking of shellfish of any description, under any 
pretence or for any purpose whatever, without 
the consent of the licensee, lessee or owner, shall, 
for the first offence, be punished by a fine of not 
more than twenty dollars or by imprisonment for 
not more than thirty days, and for each subse- 
quent offence, by a fine of not more than fifty 
dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six 
months. 

Pollution. 

Section 113. The state board of health may 
examine all complaints which may be brought to 
its notice relative to the contamination of tidal 
waters and flats in this commonwealth by sewage 
or other causes, may determine, as nearly as may 
be, the bounds of such contamination, and, if 
necessary mark such bounds. It may also, in 
writing, request the commissioners on fisheries 
and game to prohibit the taking from such con- 
taminated waters and flats of any oysters, clams, 
quahaugs and scallops. Upon receipt of such 
request, said commissioners shall prohibit the 
taking of such shellfish from such contaminated 
waters or flats for such period of time as the state 
board of health may prescribe. 

Acts of 1907, Chap. 285. 

Taking from contaminated waters of clams and qua- 
haugs for bait. 

Section 1. Whenever, upon the request of 
the state board of health under the provisions of 
section one hundred and thirteen of chapter 
ninety-one of the Revised Laws, the commis- 
sioners on fisheries and game have prohibited or 
may hereafter prohibit the taking from con- 
taminated waters or flats in any city or town of 
any clams or quahaugs, the board of health of 
such city or town may grant permits in writing 



FISH LAWS. 65 



to any person to take from such waters clams or 
quahaugs to be used for bait only, and in such 
quantities and upon such conditions as they shall 
express in their permit. 

Section 2. Any person holding a permit from 
the board of health of a city or town shall keep 
in his possession, and on his person, while acting 
thereunder, any permit obtained by him from 
said board of health, and shall at all times dis- 
play the same upon the request of any person 
authorized to enforce the provisions of this act. 
Violation of this section shall be punished by a 
fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than 
fifty dollars, and in addition the permit shall be 
revoked and shall not thereafter be issued within 
twelve months. 

Section 3. Any person who violates any of 
the provisions of such permit shall forfeit the 
permit and shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
ceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprison- 
ment for a term not exceeding three months, or 
by both such fine and imprisonment. 

Section 4. Whoever sells, or exchanges, or 
exposes or offers for sale or exchange, or buys any 
clams or quahaugs, taken under the provisions of 
this act, shall be punished by a fine of not more 
than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment 
for a term not exceeding three months, or by 
both such fine and imprisonment. 

Penalties. 

Section 114. Whoever takes any oysters, 
clams, quahaugs or scallops from tidal waters or 
flats from which the taking has been prohibited 
as provided in the preceding section shall forfeit 
not less than five nor more than ten dollars for 
the first offence, and not less than fifty nor more 
than one hundred dollars for each subsequent 
offence; but such penalties shall not be incurred 
until one week after the commissioners on 
fisheries and game shall have caused notice of 



66 FISH LAWS. 



such prohibition, with a description, or the 
bounds, of the tidal waters or flats to which such 
prohibition applies, to be published in a news- 
paper published in the town or county in which 
or adjacent to which the tidal waters or flats to 
which such prohibition applies are situated. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 411. 

A board of shellfish commissioners for New Bedford 
and Fairhaven. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person 
at any time to dig, take, remove, buy or sell any 
mollusk from the tide waters or flats of the Acush- 
net river, Clark's cove and New Bedford and 
Fairhaven harbor in areas which have been con- 
demned or which hereafter may be condemned as 
polluted waters or flats by the state board of 
health, except as is hereinafter provided. 

Section 2. For the purpose of carrying out 
the provisions of this act there shall be a board 
of shellfish commissioners, composed of the mayor 
and the chairman of the board of health of the 
city of New Bedford and the chairman of the se- 
lectmen and the chairman of the board of health 
of the town of Fairhaven, ex officiis, who shall be 
sworn before entering upon the duties of their 
office. The mayor of the city of New Bedford 
shall be the chairman of the board. The board 
shall elect a clerk who shall keep a record of all 
proceedings of the board and shall issue all no- 
tices and attest all papers and orders as the board 
shall direct. 

Section 3. Said board of shellfish commis- 
sioners shall have authority to grant licenses 
to take mollusks from the polluted waters and 
flats in the waters mentioned in section one; and 
the board shall make such rules and regulations, 
subject to the approval of the state board of 
health, as in the judgment of the licensing board 
may be necessary for the enforcement of this act, 
and may appoint inspectors who shall be sworn 
to the faithful performance of their duties and 



FISH LAWS. 67 



who shall have for the enforcement of the pro- 
visions of this act all the powers of constables, 
except the power of serving civil process. Any 
of said inspectors, and any one lawfully employed 
to enforce the provisions of this act, may for the 
purpose of the enforcement thereof, go upon and 
pass over the lands of any person without being 
considered a trespasser. The licenses granted 
hereunder may be revoked at any time by the 
licensing board. The board shall keep a record 
of the receipts and expenditures of money and 
of the licenses issued, which record shall be open 
at all times for inspection by the state board of 
health, by the board of commissioners on fish- 
eries and game, or by any agents authorized by 
either of said two boards. Said licensing board 
shall make annually a detailed report of its 
doings to the state board of health and to the 
board of commissioners on fisheries and game. 

Section 4. The board of shellfish commis- 
sioners may grant a first class license to any per- 
son who is a resident of New Bedford or of Fair- 
haven to take mollusks from the above named 
waters and to sell the same: provided, that the 
licensee shall forfeit his license for one year if he 
shall take mollusks from waters outside the pol- 
luted area without first surrendering his license; 
and if the person holding a 'first class license 
shall sell or otherwise dispose of mollusks taken 
by him under his license to any person or persons 
other than those who have a second class license 
as hereinafter provided, or if the licensee shall 
land the mollusks taken by him or others for any 
other purpose than to take them to one of the 
depots hereinafter specified for the purpose of 
selling them, or if the licensee shall take mollusks 
from said waters at any other time than between 
sunrise and sunset, or shall neglect to display his 
license number in plain view upon both sides of 
any boat or other conveyance used by him, he 
shall be liable to the penalties hereinafter imposed 
for violation of this act. 



68 FISH LAWS. 



Section 5. Any person, firm or corporation 
may in the discretion of the board, be granted a 
second class license to establish one or more 
depots upon or opposite the polluted territory 
for the purchasing and storing of mollusks from 
the polluted waters hereinbefore specified. Said 
depots shall be used for buying and storing mol- 
lusks from the polluted areas only. Every per- 
son who receives the said second class license shall 
give to the licensing board a bond in the penal 
sum of five thousand dollars with sureties satis- 
factory to said board, conditioned upon buying 
mollusks only from those holding first class li- 
censes, and upon selling or otherwise disposing 
of the said mollusks only to those holding third 
class licenses as hereinafter provided, and the 
licensee shall agree to comply with all such orders 
and regulations pertaining to the purchase and 
disposal of the said mollusks as shall be made by 
the licensing board and approved by the state 
board of health. Whoever, holding a second 
class license, violates the condition of his bond, 
shall forfeit the amount thereof to the licensing 
board and in addition shall be subject to the 
penalties hereinafter provided. 

Section 6. Any person, firm or corporation, 
including the holder of a second class license 
hereunder who can satisfy the licensing board 
that he or it has suitable grounds within Massa- 
chusetts waters for planting mollusks may be 
granted a third class license to buy, transport 
and plant mollusks taken from the polluted ter- 
ritory described in this act, conditioned upon 
buying such mollusks taken from said polluted 
waters only from those holding second class 
licenses and upon bedding said mollusks in clean 
waters within the city or town to be specified in 
the license, the said city or town to be within the 
boundaries of this commonwealth, and further 
conditioned upon allowing said mollusks there 
to remain for at least thirty days. The licensee 



FISH LAWS. 69 



shall agree to comply with such orders and regu- 
lations pertaining to the purchase, transportation 
and planting of said mollusks as shall be made by 
the licensing board and approved by the state 
board of health. 

Section 7. Any person or corporation who 
violates any provision of this act, or of the rules 
and regulations lawfully made by said board, 
shall be liable to a fine of not more than one 
hundred dollars or to imprisonment for not more 
than ninety days, or to both such fine and im- 
prisonment, and in addition thereto shall forfeit 
any license held by him or it hereunder for one 
year from the date of conviction of such viola- 
tion. 

Section 8. A fee of five dollars shall be 
charged for a first class license, fifty dollars for 
a second class license, and one dollar for a third 
class license. All licenses granted under au- 
thority of this act shall bear the name, age, place 
of residence, and identifying description of the 
licensee. Said licenses shall be valid for one 
year from the date of issue and no longer, shall 
not be transferable, and shall at all times be 
produced for examination upon the demand or 
request of any person authorized to enforce the 
provisions of this act, or of any commissioner on 
fisheries and game, or of a fish or game warden, 
or on demand of any sheriff, constable, police 
officer or other officer authorized to arrest for 
crime. Failure or refusal to produce said license 
upon such demand shall be prima facie evidence 
of a violation of this act. 

Section 9. All moneys received from license 
fees under this act shall be used by the licensing 
board for the purpose of enforcing the pro- 
visions of this act and for purposes incident 
thereto. If the moneys received from the li- 
censes granted hereunder are not sufficient to 
pay the necessary expenses incurred for the 
purposes herein mentioned, the city of New 



70 FISH LAWS. 



Bedford shall from time to time appropriate 
sums of money to meet the deficiency, one half 
of which shall be repaid by the town of Fair- 
haven. If at the end of the year there shall be 
a surplus after meeting all expenses, then such 
surplus shall be divided equally between the city 
of New Bedford and the town of Fairhaven. 

Section 10. Chapter two hundred and eighty- 
five of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
seven is hereby repealed so far as it relates to the 
flats and waters included within the provisions 
of this act. 

Shellfish for bait. 

Section 115. No person shall take from the 
towns of Chatham, Nantucket, Barnstable or 
Mashpee any shellfish for bait or other use, except 
clams and a shellfish commonly known by the 
name of horsefeet; and no quantity exceeding 
seven bushels of clams, including the shells, or 
one hundred horsefeet, shall be taken in one 
week for each vessel or craft, nor, in any case, 
unless a permit has first been obtained from the 
selectmen of the town. 

Acts op 1903, Chap. 216. 
Protection of shellfish, Edgartown. 

Section 1. No person shall take any shellfish 
from their beds or wilfully obstruct the growth 
of any shellfish within the town of Edgartown, 
except as is hereinafter provided. 

_ Section 2. The selectmen of said town may 
give permits in writing to any person to take 
shellfish from their beds within said town, at such 
times, in such quantities, and for such uses, as 
they shall deem expedient. But any inhabitant 
of said town may without such permit take from 
the beds in said town shellfish for the use of his 
family, not exceeding in quantity one bushel, 
including shells, in any one day; and any fisher- 
man may without such permit take shellfish from 



FISH LAWS. 71 



the said beds for bait for his own use, not exceed- 
ing in quantity one bushel, including shells, in 
any one day. 

Section 3. No person shall take from their 
beds in said town, or sell or offer for sale, or have 
in his possession, any little neck clams or qua- 
haugs measuring less than one and one half 
inches across the widest part. 

Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
than ten nor more than one hundred dollars. 

Section 5. The district court of Dukes 
County shall have concurrent jurisdiction with 
the superior court of all offences under this act. 

Section 6. So much of section eighty-five of 
chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws as is 
inconsistent herewith shall not apply to the town 
of Edgar town. 

REGULATION OF FISH WEIRS, NETS, 
PURSE AND SWEEP SEINES. 

Authority to construct. 

Section 116. The mayor and aldermen of a 
city and the selectmen of a town lying upon tide 
water, except cities and towns bordering on 
Buzzard's bay, may in writing authorize any per- 
son to construct weirs, pound nets or fish traps 
in said waters within the limits of such city or 
town for a term not exceeding five years, if such 
weirs, pound nets or fish traps do not obstruct 
navigation or encroach on the rights of other 
persons. 

Penalty for injury. 

Section 117. Whoever wilfully destroys or 
injures any such weir, pound net or fish trap, or 
takes fish therefrom without the consent of the 
owner, shall forfeit not more than twenty dollars 
to the use of the owner, and shall be liable in an 
action to the person injured. 



72 FISH LAWS. 



Penalty for non-authorized construction. 

Section 118. Whoever constructs or main- 
tains a weir, pound net or fish trap in tide water 
without the authority mentioned in section one 
hundred and sixteen, or from an island in tide 
water without authority in writing from the 
mayor and aldermen of every city and the select- 
men of every town which is distant not over two 
miles from said island, shall forfeit ten dollars 
for each day he maintains such weir, pound net 
or fish trap ; and he may be indicted therefor and 
enjoined therefrom. 

Statistical returns of fishing. 

Section 119. The owner of every pound net, 
weir, fyke net, or similar contrivance, of every 
fishing pier, seine, drag or gill net, lobster pot or 
trap used in any of the waters of this common- 
wealth for fishing purposes, shall annually, on or 
before the twentieth day of October, make a 
written report, under oath, to the commissioners 
of the number of pounds and the value of each 
kind of edible fish caught by his pound net, weir, 
fyke net or similar contrivance, pier, seine, drag 
or gill net, and the number and value of lobsters 
taken by him in pots or traps, during the year 
last preceding the date of said report, and the 
number and value of the devices used in such 
catching or taking, and the number of persons em- 
ployed therein; and for such purpose, the com- 
missioners shall annually, on or before the fif- 
teenth day of March, provide him, upon his 
application, with suitable blank forms for such 
reports, so arranged that each month's catch may 
be separately recorded thereon; and, in filling 
out such reports, such owner shall give the results 
of each month's fishing, so far as may be prac- 
ticable. Such owner shall apply to the commis- 
sioners for such blank forms. The owner of any 
cars or other contrivances used for keeping 



FISH LAWS. 73 



lobsters shall have his name and residence legibly 
marked thereon. Whoever knowingly and wil- 
fully violates the provisions of this section shall 
be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor 
more than one hundred dollars. 

Close time for net fishing. 

Section 120. Subject to the provisions of the 
two following sections, no person shall, from the 
first day of May to the fifteenth day of June, set, 
or permit to remain set, a fish pound, weir, trap, 
fyke or similar fixed apparatus for catching fish, 
except gill nets, between the hours of six o'clock 
on Saturday morning and six o'clock on Sunday 
evening, so as to catch fish in the tidal waters of 
the counties of Dukes County or Bristol, of the 
towns of Mattapoisett, Marion or Wareham, of 
the westerly boundaries of Bourne and Fal- 
mouth at and near Buzzard's bay, or of that por- 
tion of the southerly boundary of the county of 
Barnstable extending from the southwesterly 
corner of the town of Falmouth easterly to Point 
Gammon in the town of Yarmouth. Whoever 
violates the provisions of this section shall be 
punished by a fine of not less than one hundred 
nor more than two hundred dollars; but all 
prosecutions under this section shall be com- 
menced within three months after the commis- 
sion of the offence. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 374. 
Taking of fish in Lynn harbor. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to take fish 
by the use of sweep nets or seines in the waters 
of Lynn harbor between the Point of Pines in the 
town of Revere and Bass Point in the town of 
Nahant, except that between the first day of 
October and the first day of January following 
fish may so be taken: provided, that a permit 
therefor is first obtained from the harbor master 
of the city of Lynn. 



74 FISH LAWS. 



Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of not more 
than one hundred dollars for each offence. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 69. 

The taking of flounders and other ground fish by 
certain apparatus in the vicinity of Pemberton point 
and Pig rock prohibited. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to take 
flounders or any other ground fish in the waters 
lying inshore from a line drawn from Pemberton 
point, in the town of Hull, to Pig rock, in the 
town of Swampscott, by beam trawl or by any 
apparatus other than a hook and line or an ordi- 
nary trawl. 

Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
ceeding two hundred dollars for each offence. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 107. 
Beam trawling in Boston harbor prohibited. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
son to practice beam trawling in Boston harbor 
or to take or attempt to take any fish by that 
method. 

Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
ceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment 
for a term not exceeding three months, or by 
both such fine and imprisonment. 

Traps prohibited in Buzzard's bay. 

Section 121. Wlioever sets, uses or main- 
tains any trap, weir, pound, yard or other sta- 
tionary apparatus of any kind for the taking of 
fish in the waters of Buzzard's bay or in any har- 
bor, cove or bight thereof shall be punished by a 
fine of not less than one hundred nor more than 
five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not 
more than six months. 



FISH LAWS. 75 



Nets prohibited in Buzzard's bay. 

Section 122. No person shall draw, set, 
stretch or use any drag net, set net or gill net, 
purse or sweep seine of any kind for taking fish 
in the waters of Buzzard's bay or in any harbor, 
cove or bight thereof within the jurisdiction of 
this commonwealth. Whoever violates, or aids 
or abets in the violation of, the provisions of this 
section shall be punished by a fine of not more 
than two hundred dollars for each offence. 

Penalties. 

Section 123. A net or seine which is used in 
violation of the provisions of the preceding sec- 
tion and a boat, craft or fishing apparatus which 
is employed in such illegal use, and all fish found 
therewith, shall be forfeited. An inhabitant of a 
town bordering on said bay may seize and detain 
for not more than forty-eight hours any net or 
seine found in use in violation of the provisions 
of the preceding section, and any boat, craft, 
fishing apparatus and fish found therewith, so 
that they may be seized and libelled. 

When nets are nuisances. 

Section 124. All nets and seines in actual use 
which are set or stretched in violation of the pro- 
visions of sections one hundred and twenty-two 
and one hundred and twenty-eight are declared 
to be common nuisances. 



Fishing rights in Buzzard's bay. 

Section 125. The provisions of the four pre- 
ceding sections shall not affect the corporate 
rights of any fishing company situated on Buz- 
zard's bay, nor the use of nets or seines in law- 
ful fisheries for shad or alewives in influent 
streams of said bay. 



76 FISH LAWS. 



Limits of Buzzard's bay. 

Section 126. In the statutes of this common- 
wealth the term "waters of Buzzard's bay" shall 
be deemed to mean the body of water commonly 
known as Buzzard's bay and extending south- 
westerly to a line drawn from Cuttyhunk light- 
house to the southerly extremity of Gooseberry 
neck in the town of Westport. 

As AMENDED BT ACTS OF 1905, CHAP. 281. 

Restrictions, Edgartown and Cottage City. 1 

Section 127. Whoever sets or uses or aids in 
setting or using any seine, mesh net or gill net for 
the purpose of catching any other fish than mack- 
erel, or by such means catches and retains any 
other fish than mackerel, in the waters of the 
towns of Edgartown and Cottage City, 1 within 
three miles from the shores thereof, may, upon 
view of the offence by any of the commissioners 
on fisheries and game or their deputies, or any 
officers qualified to serve criminal process or mem- 
ber of the district police, be arrested without 
warrant and prosecuted by him; and on con- 
viction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not 
more than two hundred dollars, and, in the dis- 
cretion of the court, shall forfeit to the common- 
wealth all fish taken in said nets. The pro- 
visions of this section shall not affect the rights 
of any persons mentioned in section twenty-three 
or the corporate rights of any fishing company; 
nor shall they prevent the inhabitants of said 
towns from taking menhaden for bait for their 
own use in the waters of their respective towns in 
the months of July, August, September and Octo- 
ber. 

Section 2. This act shall not restrict or affect 
the authority granted by chapter three hundred 
and one of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 

i Now Oak Bluffs. 



FISH LAWS. 77 



and four to the selectmen of the town of Edgar- 
town to issue certain permits for the taking of 
bait. 

Acts op 1907, Chap. 301. 

Restrictions in the waters of Barnstable and Mashpee 
on Nantucket sound. 

Section 1. After the passage of this act no 
person shall draw, set, stretch or use any purse or 
sweep seine of any kind, except as is herein- 
after provided, for taking fish anywhere in the 
waters of the towns of Barnstable or Mashpee on 
Nantucket Sound, so-called, northerly of or 
within a straight line extended from Point Gam- 
mon to Succonessett Point ; nor in any bay, har- 
bor, cove or bight of said waters, nor in any inlet 
or stream flowing into the same: -provided, how- 
ever, that nothing herein contained shall be so 
construed as to forbid or make unlawful the 
catching of menhaden or other small fish for bait 
purposes, nor the use of nets for the taking of 
herring, nor the use of dredges or drag nets for 
the taking of scallops. 

Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act, or aids or assists in so doing, shall be 
punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars 
nor more than five hundred dollars for each 
offence, or by imprisonment for a term not ex- 
ceeding six months. 

Section 3. Any net, seine or movable device 
for catching fish used in violation of any pro- 
vision of this act, together with any boat, craft, 
vessel, steamer or fishing apparatus employed in 
such illegal use, and any fish found therewith, are 
hereby declared to be public nuisances and for- 
feited; and it shall be lawful for any inhabitant 
of said Barnstable or Mashpee, or any constable, 
police officer or deputy sheriff in the common- 
wealth, to seize and detain, without warrant, for 
a period not exceeding forty-eight hours, any 
such net, seine or movable device, boat, craft, 
vessel, steamer or fishing apparatus found in use 



78 FISH LAWS. 



contrary to the provisions of this act, and any 
fish found therewith, to the end that the same 
may be libelled, if necessary, by due process of 
law. District courts and trial justices shall have 
concurrent jurisdiction with the superior court 
of all offences and proceedings under the pro- 
visions of this act, regardless of the value of the 
property libelled. 

Acts of 1904, Chap. 118. 
Restrictions, Pleasant bay, Orleans. 

Section 1 . No purse or sweep seines, set nets 
or gill nets, for the taking of fish shall be set, 
drawn, used or maintained in the waters of 
Pleasant bay or its tributaries in the town of 
Orleans; but nothing herein contained shall be 
construed to forbid or make unlawful the main- 
taining of traps, pounds or weirs under licenses 
granted in accordance with section one hundred 
and sixteen of chapter ninety-one of the Revised 
Laws. 

Section 2. Any person who shall set, draw, 
use or maintain a purse or sweep seine, set net or 
gill net in violation of this act shall be punished 
by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more 
than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for 
a term not exceeding six months. 

Section 3. Chapter one hundred and sixty- 
three of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
one is hereby repealed. 

AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1907, CHAP. 298. 

Restrictions, Westport. 

Section 128. Whoever draws, sets, stretches 
or uses any net, purse or seine of any kind for 
taking fish in the waters of Westport river be- 
tween the first day of May and the first day of 
November shall be punished by a fine of not more 
than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not 
more than three months, or by both such fine and 



FISH LAWS. 79 



imprisonment; and it shall be the duty of every 
officer designated in section four of this chapter 
to seize fish killed contrary to the provisions of 
this chapter and to report the seizure to the com- 
missioners on fisheries and game, who shall 
authorize the sale of such fish; and the proceeds 
of any such sale, after paying the expenses 
thereof, shall be paid into the treasury of the 
commonwealth . 

Section 2. Section one hundred and twenty- 
nine of said chapter ninety-one is hereby repealed. 

Fish wardens, Westport. 

Section 130. The town of Westport shall at 
each annual town election choose by ballot for a 
term of three years a person who shall be sworn 
to enforce the provisions of section one hundred 
and twenty-eight. 

Acts of 1904, Chap. 319. 
Fish wardens, Edgartown. 

The town of Edgartown is hereby authorized 
to choose at any annual town meeting, or at any 
meeting duly called for the purpose, fish wardens, 
in such number and with such compensation as 
the town may determine, who shall be sworn to 
the faithful discharge of their duty, which shall 
be to enforce the fishery laws in that town; and 
for this purpose the fish wardens so chosen shall 
have the powers which the district police now 
have or shall hereafter have for the enforcement 
of the fishery laws of the commonwealth. 

Acts of 1904, Chap. 301. 
Regarding eel bait, Edgartown. 

Section 1. The selectmen of the town of 
Edgartown, or any two of them, may issue to any 
inhabitant of said town holding a permit for the 
taking of eels by means of pots, permits for 
the taking of bait for his own use only from the 



80 FISH LAWS. 



waters of said town by means of nets or seines. 
Such permits shall not be issued for the use of nets 
or seines more than one hundred and fifty feet 
long, or of a size of mesh of more than three 
fourths of an inch, and shall be issued for the 
taking of such bait only between the first day of 
June and the fifteenth day of December in each 
year. The provisions of this act shall not affect 
the rights of the persons designated in section 
twenty-three of chapter ninety-one of the Re- 
vised Laws, or the corporate rights of any fishing 
company. 

Section 2. So much of section one hundred 
and twenty-seven of chapter ninety-one of the 
Revised Laws and of any other act as is incon- 
sistent herewith is hereby repealed. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Penalty for robbing pots, trawls, etc. 

Section 131. Whoever takes any fish or 
lobster from a trap, trawl or seine net for catching 
fish or lobsters, without the consent of the owner 
thereof, and whoever wilfully molests or inter- 
feres with such trap, trawl or seine, shall, for the 
first offence, be punished by a fine of not less than 
five nor more than twenty-five dollars or by im- 
prisonment for thirty days, or by both such fine 
and imprisonment; and for any subsequent 
offence, by a fine of not less than twenty nor more 
than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for sixty 
days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 

AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1908, CHAP. 492. 

Apparatus for taking fish which frequent fresh water. 
Section 132. Whoever takes any fish which 
at any season frequent fresh water, except as 
otherwise allowed in this chapter, in any other 
manner than by artificially or naturally baited 
hook and hand line, shall forfeit not less than 
five nor more than fifty dollars; but towns may 



FISH LAWS. 81 



permit the use of nets and seines for taking 
herring and alewives; and nothing in this act 
shall be construed to prohibit the spearing of that 
species of fish commonly known as "suckers." 

AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1903, CHAP. 246. 

For the better protection of fish. 

Section 133. Whoever puts or throws into 
any waters for the purpose of taking or destroying 
fish therein any poisonous substance, simple, 
mixed or compound, or whoever kills or destroys 
fish by the use of dynamite or other explosive, or 
explodes dynamite or powder in fishing waters, 
shall forfeit ten dollars for each offence: pro- 
vided, however, that the provisions of this act 
shall not apply to operations of the federal gov- 
ernment, of the state government, or of any 
municipal government in this commonwealth, 
nor to the use of explosives for raising the body of 
a drowned person. 

Shellfish constables. 

Section 134. The mayor and aldermen of a 
city or the selectmen of a town may designate 
one or more constables for the detection and 
prosecution of any violation of the laws of the 
commonwealth relative to shell fisheries. Such 
constables may arrest without warrant any per- 
son found violating such laws, and detain him for 
prosecution not more than twenty-four hours; 
and may seize any boat or vessel used in such 
violation, and her tackle, apparel and furniture 
and implements which shall be forfeited. 

Time of prosecutions. 

Section 135. Actions and prosecutions under 
the laws relative to fisheries shall, unless other- 
wise expressly provided, be commenced within 
one year after the time when the cause of action 
accrued or the offence was committed. 



82 FISH LAWS. 



Duties of municipal officers, etc. 

Section 136. The mayor and aldermen of 
cities, the selectmen of towns, police officers and 
constables shall cause the provisions of sections 
sixty-three, seventy-one and seventy-two to be 
enforced in their respective cities and towns. 

Acts of 1908, Chap. 330. 

Disposition of fines recovered in prosecutions und9r 
the laws relating to fisheries, birds, animals and 
game. 

Section 1. All fines, penalties and forfeitures 
recovered in prosecutions under the laws relative 
to fisheries or to birds, animals and game, except 
as provided in section eighty-eight of chapter 
ninety-one of the Revised Laws, as amended by 
section one of chapter three hundred and three 
of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
seven, shall be equally divided between the 
county in which such prosecution is made and 
the commonwealth: provided, however, that if 
the plaintiff is a deputy appointed by the com- 
missioners on fisheries and game and is receiving 
compensation from the commonwealth, such 
fines, penalties and forfeitures shall be paid into 
the treasury of the commonwealth. 

Section 2. Section one hundeed and thirty- 
seven of chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws 
and section twenty of chapter ninety-two of the 
Revised Laws, as amended by chapter four 
hundred and forty-five of the acts of the year 
nineteen hundred and five and by chapter three 
hundred of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
and seven, are hereby repealed. 

Special statutes not repealed. 

Section 138. The provisions of this chapter 
shall not repeal or affect any provisions or penal- 
ties contained or any privileges granted in any 
special statutes relating to fisheries in particular 
places. 



FISH LAWS. 83 



Acts of 1908, Chap. 76. 
Bounty on seals abolished. 

Section 1. Section one hundred and thirty- 
nine of chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws, 
establishing a bounty for killing seals, is hereby 
repealed. 

Kelp and seaweed. 

Section 140. Any person may take and 
carry away kelp or other seaweed between high 
and low water mark while it is actually adrift in 
tide waters ; but for such purpose no person shall 
enter on upland or on lawfully enclosed flats 
without the consent of the owner or lawful occu- 
pant thereof. The provisions of this section 
shall not apply to any city or town in which the 
subject matter thereof is regulated by special laws. 



84 GAME LAWS. 



GAME LAWS. 

Revised Laws, Chap. 92. 

PRESERVATION OF CERTAIN BIRDS AND 
ANIMALS. 

Acts of 1905, Chap. 317, as amended by Acts of 1908, Chap. 
402; as further amended by Acts of 1910, Chap. 614. 1 

Unnaturalized, foreign born persons must procure 
license to hunt. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any un- 
naturalized, foreign born person to hunt, pursue, 
trap or kill any wild bird or quadruped anywhere 
within the limits of the commonwealth, unless 
he is licensed so to do as hereinafter provided. 

Section 2. City and town clerks shall, upon 
the application of any unnaturalized, foreign 
born person who is a resident of the city or town 
in which the application is made, and upon the 
payment of a fee of fifteen dollars, issue to such 
person a license, upon the form to be supplied by 
the commissioners on fisheries and game, bearing 
the name, age and place of residence of the li- 
censee, with a description of him, as near as may 
be, and authorizing the said licensee to hunt and 
to kill game on any lands in which such hunting 
or killing is not forbidden by law or by written 
or printed notices posted thereon by the owner, 
lessee or occupant thereof. Such license shall 
be good only for that period of the year when 
game may lawfully be killed, and shall authorize 
the hunting or killing of game only under such 
restrictions and for such purposes as are imposed 
or authorized by law. The said license shall not 
br transferable, shall expire on the thirty-first 
day of December of the year of issue, and shall be 
exhibited upon demand to any of the commis- 
sioners on fisheries and game or their deputies, 

1 For laws relative to licensing and registration of hunters, 
disposition of license fees, etc., in effect after Jan. 1, 1912, 
see p. 90, Acts of 1911, Chapter 614. 



GAME LAWS. 85 



and to any game warden or deputy game warden, 
and to any sheriff, constable, police officer or 
other officer qualified to serve process. The fees 
received for the said licenses shall, on the first 
Monday of every month, be paid to the board of 
commissioners on fisheries and game. The board 
of commissioners on fisheries and game shall, on 
the second Monday of every month, pay to the 
treasurer and receiver general all money received 
by them for such certificates issued during the 
previous month. 

Section 3. A license granted hereunder shall 
be revoked by the city or town clerk issuing the 
same in case the licensee is convicted of a viola- 
tion of fish and game laws, or of hunting upon 
Sunday in violation of law. 

Section 4. It shall be the duty of the com- 
missioners on fisheries and game, upon request 
by any city or town clerk, to supply such clerk 
with license forms prepared in accordance with 
the provisions of this act. 

Section 5. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
than ten nor more than fifty dollars. 

Acts of 1907, Chap. 198, as amended by Acts of 1909, Chap. 
262.i 

Non-resident hunters must procure licenses to hunt. 
Section 1. If any person, not a bona fide 
resident of this commonwealth and actually 
domiciled therein for a period of six months, 
shall hunt, pursue or kill, within the limits of this 
commonwealth, any wild animal, wild fowl or 
bird without having first procured of the com- 
missioners on fisheries and game a license to so 
hunt, pursue, or kill as hereinafter provided, he 
shall be fined, for each offence, a sum not ex- 
ceeding fifty dollars, or be imprisoned for a term 
not exceeding thirty days, or shall suffer both 
such fine and imprisonment; and the same pen- 

1 See note on p. 84. 



86 GAME LAWS. 



alties shall be imposed upon any such person who 
shall be convicted of so hunting, pursuing or 
killing such wild animal, wild fowl or bird on a 
license which has been issued in the name of 
another person. 

Section 2. [Repealed by Acts of 1909, Chap- 
ter 262.] 

Section 3. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game may, upon application therefor, issue 
a license to a non-resident which shall entitle 
such person to the privileges enjoyed by residents 
of this commonwealth as to the hunting and 
killing of all wild animals, wild fowl or birds. 
Such license shall be recorded in detail in books 
kept for that purpose, shall not be transferable 
nor available to any person other than the one 
named therein, shall be valid and in force only 
during the calendar year in which it is issued and 
dated, and shall entitle the licensee to hunt and 
kill only during the respective periods of the 3 r ear 
when it is lawful for residents to so hunt and kill. 
Such license shall state the name, age, color of 
hair and eyes, and residence of the applicant. 

Section 4. No license shall be valid unless 
the signature of the person to whom it is issued 
is written thereon, and every such person shall at 
all times when hunting carry his license on his 
person, and shall at all reasonable times and as 
often as requested produce and show such license 
to any person requesting him so to do, and if he 
fails or refuses so to do he shall forfeit the license 
and be deemed to be hunting in violation of the 
provisions of this act. 

Section 5. Each non-resident hunting license 
shall entitle the licensee to carry from the com- 
monwealth not more than six wild fowl or birds 
of all kinds, the exportation of which is pro- 
hibited by law, in any one calendar year: pro- 
vided, that the owner thereof shall carry them 
open to view for inspection, shall present his 
license for inspection upon demand, and shall 



GAME LAWS. 87 



have informed, by letter or otherwise, the com- 
missioner who issued the license as to the num- 
ber and kinds of wild fowl or birds which he 
intends to carry from the commonwealth. Who- 
ever violates any provision of this section shall be 
fined not more than fifty dollars, or be imprisoned 
for not more than thirty days, or shall suffer both 
such fine and imprisonment. 

Section 6. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game, and the detectives in their employ, 
shall have the right, after demand and refusal 
or failure to exhibit any such license, to arrest 
without warrant any non-resident person or per- 
sons found hunting, pursuing or killing any wild 
animal, wild fowl or bird, and for the purpose of 
this arrest any person who shall refuse to state 
his name and place of residence on demand of 
such officer shall be deemed a non-resident. 

Section 7. The fee for the license aforesaid 
shall be ten dollars except as hereinafter provided, 
and the money received for the said licenses by 
the commissioners shall be paid into the treasury 
of the commonwealth. The fee for the said li- 
cense shall be one dollar for the following classes 
of persons : — (1) A resident of another state who 
owns real estate situated in this commonwealth, 
which is assessed for taxation at not less than five 
hundred dollars. (2) A non-resident member of 
any association, incorporated prior to the year 
nineteen hundred and seven, for the purpose of 
hunting or fishing, provided that such corpora- 
tion owns real estate in this commonwealth, 
which is assessed for taxation at not less than one 
thousand dollars. (3) A non-resident who, on 
the written invitation of a member of any club 
incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts, 
attends a meeting of such club for the purpose of 
hunting foxes only, during a period not exceed- 
ing four days, provided that the membership 
list of the club shall be filed with the commis- 
sioners on fisheries and game. 



88 GAME LAWS. 



Acts of 1908, Chap. 484, as amended by Acts of 1909, Chap. 
325; as further amended by acts of 1910, chap. 614, 
and Acts of 1911, Chap. 235. 1 

The registration of hunters. 

Section 1. No citizen of the United States 
resident in Massachusetts shall hunt, pursue, 
take, or kill any bird or quadruped protected by 
law or use a gun for hunting, except as herein pro- 
vided, without first having obtained a certificate 
of registration as hereinafter provided: provided, 
however, that nothing in this act shall be con- 
strued as affecting in any way the provisions 
of the general laws relating to trespass, or as 
authorizing the hunting, pursuing, taking, 
wounding, or killing, or the possession of birds 
or quadrupeds contrary to any laws now or 
hereinafter in force, nor shall the possession of 
such certificate of registration grant or confer 
any privilege not enjoyed prior to the passage 
of this act. 

Section 2. The clerk of any city or town 
shall, upon the application of any such bona fide 
resident citizen who shall prove to the satisfac- 
tion of the clerk issuing said license that he is a 
citizen of this state and the payment of the regis- 
tration fee and recording fee hereinafter pro- 
vided, issue to such person a certificate in the 
form prescribed and upon blanks furnished by 
the commissioners on fisheries and game: pro- 
vided, however, that an application for a license 
for a minor under sixteen years of age must be 
accompanied by a written request from his 
parent or guardian, which certificate shall bear 
the name, age, occupation, place of residence, 
signature and an identifying description of the 
person thus registered, and shall authorize the 
person so registered to hunt game birds and game 
quadrupeds during the period when the same, 
respectively, may lawfully be killed, and at no 
other time, and only subject to the restrictions 

x See note on p. 84. 



GAME LAWS. 89 



and conditions as provided by law. Said certifi- 
cates shall be valid until January first next fol- 
lowing the date of issue and no longer, shall not 
be transferable, and shall be carried on the per- 
son when hunting and produced for examination 
upon demand of any commissioner of fisheries 
and game, or their deputies or upon demand of 
any sheriff, constable, police officer, or other of- 
ficer authorized to arrest for crime, or of the 
owner or lessee in actual occupancy of any land 
upon which such registered person may be found. 
Failure or refusal to produce said certificate upon 
such demand shall be prima facie evidence of a 
violation of this act. 

Section 3. Every citizen of the United States 
who is a bona fide resident of this state shall pay 
for such certificate a fee of one dollar, of which 
sum fifteen cents shall be returned by the state 
treasurer to the clerk of the city or town in which 
the certificate is recorded, if the annual salary of 
such clerk does not exceed five hundred dollars, 
but if his salary exceeds five hundred dollars no 
part of said fee shall be returned to him ; and the 
board of commissioners on fisheries and game 
shall annually, in the month of April, prepare 
and furnish to the treasurer and receiver general 
a list of all city and town clerks who are entitled 
to receive a return fee of fifteen cents for each 
license issued, as provided in this section: pro- 
vided, however, that this act shall not apply to 
any such citizen who is a bona fide resident on 
land owned or leased by him and on which he is 
actually domiciled, which land is used exclusively 
for agricultural purposes, and not for club or 
shooting purposes. 

Section 4. Every city and town clerk shall 
keep a record of all such certificates issued by 
him, which record shall be open to inspection by 
all officers authorized to make arrests, and by the 
state treasurer and the state auditor or their 
agents, and by the commissioners on fisheries 



90 GAME LAWS. 



and game and their deputies; and such clerk 
shall, on the first Monday of every month, pay 
to the board of commissioners on fisheries and 
game all money received by him for such certifi- 
cates issued during the month preceding. The 
board of commissioners on fisheries and game 
shall, on the second Monday of every month, pay 
to the treasurer and receiver general all money 
received by them for such certificates issued 
during the previous month and furnish to him a 
list of the number and kind of certificates so 
issued by each city and town clerk during the 
previous month. 

Section 5. Any person who shall violate any 
provision of this act shall be fined not less than 
ten nor more than fifty dollars, or be imprisoned 
for not more than thirty days, or shall be pun- 
ished by both such fine and imprisonment; and 
the certificate of any person who shall be con- 
victed of a violation of any law relating to birds 
or quadrupeds, or of any provision of this act, 
shall be void and the said certificate shall be sur- 
rendered by him to the court, and such person 
shall not receive a certificate during the period 
of one year from the date of such conviction. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 614. 

Licensing and registration of hunters and disposi- 
tion of the license fees. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
son to hunt, pursue, take or kill any bird or 
quadruped without first having obtained a cer- 
tificate of registration as hereinafter provided: 
provided, however, that nothing in this act shall 
be construed as affecting in any way the pro- 
visions of the general laws relating to trespass, 
or as authorizing the hunting, pursuing, taking, 
wounding or killing, or the possession of birds or 
quadrupeds contrary to any laws now or here- 
after in force, nor shall the possession of the 
said certificate of registration grant or confer 



GAME LAWS. 91 



any privilege not enjoyed prior to the passage of 
this act. But this act shall not prohibit any 
person who is a legal resident of Massachusetts 
from hunting on land owned or leased by him, 
provided that he is actually domiciled on such 
land, and that the land is used exclusively for 
agricultural purposes, and not for club or shoot- 
ing purposes. 

Section 2. The clerk of any city or town 
shall, upon the application of any person entitled 
to receive a certificate of registration under any 
of the classes hereinafter described, and upon 
payment of the registration fee hereinafter speci- 
fied, and the furnishing of an affidavit by any 
non-resident who desires to be classified under 
clauses one, two and three of section four of this 
act, register and issue to such person a certificate 
in the form prescribed and upon a blank fur- 
nished by the commissioners on fisheries and 
game, which certificate shall bear the name, age, 
occupation, place of residence, and signature and 
identifying description of the person thus regis- 
tered, and shall authorize the person so regis- 
tered to hunt birds and quadrupeds, subject to 
such conditions as are provided by law. Said 
certificate shall be valid onty to January first 
next following the date of issue and no longer, 
shall not be transferable, and shall be produced 
for examination upon demand of any person. 
Failure or refusal to produce said certificate upon 
such demand shall be prima facie evidence of 
the violation of this act. 

Section 3. Every unnaturalized, foreign- 
born person shall pay for such registration a fee 
of fifteen dollars to the clerk of the city or town 
in which he resides and from whom he procures 
his certificate. 

Section 4. Every citizen of the United 
States, not a legal resident of this commonwealth, 
and not having been actually domiciled therein 
for a period of six months, shall pay for said 



92 GAME LAWS. 



registration a fee of ten dollars to the clerk of 
the city or town from whom he procures his cer- 
tificate, except such persons as come within one 
of the three following classes, in which case the 
applicant shall pay for his registration the sum 
of one dollar to the clerk of the city or town from 
whom he procures his certificate. 

(1) The resident of another state who owns 
real estate situated in this commonwealth which 
is assessed for taxation at not less than five hun- 
dred dollars. 

(2) A non-resident member of any association 
incorporated prior to the year nineteen hundred 
and seven for the purpose of hunting: provided, 
that such corporation owns real estate in this 
commonwealth which is assessed for taxation at 
not less than one thousand dollars. 

(3) A non-resident who, on the written invita- 
tion of a member of any club incorporated under 
the laws of Massachusetts, attends the meeting 
of such club for the purpose of hunting foxes 
only, during a period not exceeding four days: 
provided, that the membership list of the club 
shall be filed with the clerk of the town in which 
the hunt takes place. 

Section 5. Every citizen of the United 
States who is a legal resident of this common- 
wealth shall pay for such registration the fee of 
one dollar to the clerk of the city or town for 
whom he procures his certificate. 

Section 6. Out of the fee paid in any and all 
of the foregoing classes the sum of fifteen cents 
shall be retained by the clerk of the city or town 
in which the registration is recorded, if the annual 
salary of such clerk does not exceed five hundred 
dollars; but if his salary exceeds five hundred 
dollars, no part of said fee shall be retained by 
him. 

Section 7. Minors under sixteen years of 
age, upon making application for registration, 
shall furnish the consent of their parents or 



GAME LAWS. 93 



guardian in writing, and such written consent 
shall be filed with the records of such applica- 
tion. 

Section 8. Whoever loses, or by mistake 
or accident destroys his certificate of registra- 
tion may, upon application to the commission 
on fisheries and game accompanied by an affi- 
davit fully setting forth the circumstances of the 
loss, receive without charge a duplicate certifi- 
cate for the remainder of the year covered by 
the original certificate. 

Section 9. Every city and town clerk shall 
report all such registration in books kept for 
that purpose, which books shall be open to pub- 
lic inspection during the usual office hours of 
such clerk, and subject to audit and inspection 
by the commissioners on fisheries and game, by 
the state auditor, or by their agents, at all times ; 
and said clerk shall, on the first Monday of 
every month, pay to the board of commissioners 
on fisheries and game all money received by him 
for the said registrations, except the recording 
fees which he is entitled to retain, as provided 
in section six, together with a receipted bill for 
fees due and received in accordance with section 
six of this act, issued during the month preceding. 
All remittances shall be made by certified check, 
United States post office money order, express 
money order or lawful money of the United 
States. The board of commissioners on fisheries 
and game shall, in accordance with the pro- 
visions of section fifty-six of chapter six of the 
Revised Laws, pay to the treasurer and receiver 
general all money received by them for the said 
registrations issued during the previous month, 
and shall furnish him with a list of the number 
and kind of registrations recorded by each city 
and town clerk during the previous month. 

Section 10. A non-resident hunting license 
shall entitle the licensee to carry from the com- 
monwealth and into any other state according 



94 GAME LAWS. 



similar privileges not more than ten wild fowl, 
or game birds of all kinds, the exportation of 
which is prohibited by law, in any one calendar 
year: provided, that the licensee shall carry them 
open to view for inspection, shall present his 
certificate for inspection upon demand, and shall 
have informed by letter or otherwise the com- 
missioners on fisheries and game or the deputy 
in whose district the said non-resident is hunting, 
as to the number and kinds of wild fowl or game 
birds which he intends to carry from the com- 
monwealth. 

Section 11. Any person who makes a false 
representation as to birthplace, requirements for 
identification, or of facts relative to property 
qualifications, or naturalization, or otherwise 
violates any provision of this act shall be fined 
not less than ten or more than fifty dollars, or 
be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or 
may be punished by both such fine and imprison- 
ment. Every person convicted of violating the 
game laws shall immediately surrender to the 
officer who secures such conviction his certificate 
of registration; and the officer shall forthwith 
forward said certificate to the commissioners on 
fisheries and game, who shall cancel the same 
and notify the clerk issuing the certificate of 
registration of the cancellation. No other cer- 
tificate of registration shall be issued to such 
person so convicted during a period of one year 
after the date of conviction. 

Section 12. The fees and fines received 
under the provisions of this act shall be paid 
into the treasury of the commonwealth. 

Section 13. Chapter three hundred and 
seventeen of the acts of the year nineteen hun- 
dred and five, as amended by chapter four hun- 
dred and two of the acts of the year nineteen 
hundred and eight, and by chapter two hundred 
and sixty-two of the acts of the year nineteen hun- 
dred and nine, and by chapter six hundred and 



GAME LAWS. 95 



fourteen of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
and ten; chapter one hundred and ninety-eight 
of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
seven, as amended by chapter two hundred .and 
sixty-two of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
and nine; chapter four hundred and eighty-four 
of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
eight, as amended by chapter three hundred and 
twenty-five of the acts of the year nineteen hun- 
dred and nine, and by chapter six hundred and 
fourteen of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
and ten ; and all acts and parts of acts inconsist- 
ent herewith are hereby repealed. 

Section 14. This act shall take effect Jan- 
uary first, nineteen hundred and twelve. 

As AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1904, CHAP. 176. 

Lord's day, close season. 

Section 1. The Lord's day shall be close sea- 
son. Whoever hunts or destroys birds, wild 
animals or game of any kind on the Lord's day 
shall be liable to a penalty of not less than ten 
nor more than twenty dollars in addition to any 
penalties for taking, killing or having in posses- 
sion birds, wild animals or game protected by law. 

Acts of 1909, Chap. 422. 

Governor may proclaim a close season for game in 
times of drouth. 

Section 1. Whenever, during an open sea- 
son for the hunting of any kind of game in this 
state, it shall appear to the governor that by 
reason of extreme drouth the use of firearms in 
the forest is liable to cause forest fires, he may, 
by proclamation, suspend the open season and 
make it a close season for the shooting of birds 
and wild animals of every kind for such time as 
he may designate, and may prohibit the dis- 
charge of firearms in or near forest land during 
the said time. 



96 GAME LAWS. 



Section 2. During the time designated as 
above by the governor, all provisions of law re- 
lating to the close season shall be in force, and 
whoever violates any such provision shall be sub- 
ject to the penalties prescribed therefor. In 
case any person shall, during a close season pro- 
claimed as aforesaid, discharge a firearm in or 
near forest land, or shoot any wild animal or 
bird, as to which there is no close season other- 
wise provided by law, he shall be subject to a 
fine of not more than one hundred dollars. 

Section 3. A proclamation issued under au- 
thority hereof shall be published in such news- 
papers of the state and posted in such places and 
in such manner as the governor may direct, under 
the charge and direction of the state forester and 
the commissioners on fisheries and game. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 236. 
Ruffed grouse and woodcock. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful, excepting 
only between the fifteenth day of October and 
the fifteenth day of November of each year, 
both dates inclusive, to hunt, pursue, take or 
kill a ruffed grouse, commonly called partridge, 
or a woodcock, or to have the same, or any part 
thereof, in possession, whenever or wherever the 
same may have been taken or killed; and it 
shall be unlawful at any time to buy, sell, offer 
for sale, or otherwise dispose of a ruffed grouse 
or woodcock or any part thereof, whenever or 
wherever the same may have been taken or 
killed; and it shall be unlawful at any time to 
take or send or cause to be taken or transported 
beyond the limits of the commonwealth the 
above named birds, or to have in possession any 
such bird with intent to take or cause the same 
to be taken out of the commonwealth. I 

Section 2. So much of chapter ninety-two 
of the Revised Laws as is inconsistent herewith, 
and chapter four hundred and forty-one of the 



GAME LAWS. 97 



acts of the year nineteen hundred and eight, 
chapter two hundred and seventy-two of the 
acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine, and 
chapter three hundred and sixty-five of the acts 
of the year nineteen hundred and ten, are 
hereby repealed. 

Section 3. Whoever violates the provisions 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of twenty 
dollars for each bird or part thereof in respect to 
which the violation occurs; and possession of a 
ruffed grouse or woodcock, except during the 
open season, as provided above, shall be prima 
facie evidence that the person having possession 
has violated the provisions of this act. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 356. 
Quail. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful excepting 
only between the fifteenth day of October and 
the fifteenth day of November of each year, 
both dates inclusive, to hunt, pursue, take or 
kill a quail or to have the same, or any part 
thereof, in possession except as provided in sec- 
tions two and three hereof; and it shall be unlaw- 
ful at any time to take or send or cause to be 
taken or transported beyond the limits of the 
commonwealth a quail which was taken or 
killed within the commonwealth, or to have in 
possession quail with intent to take or cause the 
same to be taken out of the commonwealth, ex- 
cept quail artificially propagated as provided in 
section two hereof. 

Section 2. Upon application to the board of 
commissioners on fisheries and game, written 
permission may be granted to any person to en- 
gage in the rearing of quail and to dispose of the 
same under such rules and regulations, approved 
by the governor and council, as may be made 
from time to time by the commissioners, and 
such artificially propagated quail may be bought, 
sold and had in possession at any season of the 
year for the purposes of propagation. 



98 GAME LAWS. 



Section 3. It shall be unlawful to buy, sell, 
offer for sale or otherwise dispose of at any time 
a quail, or any part thereof, whenever or where- 
ever such bird may have been taken or killed: 
'provided, however, that a person, firm or corpora- 
tion dealing in game, or engaged in the cold 
storage business, may buy, sell or have in posses- 
sion, and a person may buy from such person, 
firm or corporation, and may have in possession 
if so bought, quail from the first day of November 
to the first day of January following, if such 
quail or parts thereof were not taken in this 
commonwealth, and were not taken, killed, 
bought, sold or otherwise disposed of or trans- 
ported contrary to the laws of any state or 
country. And a person, firm or corporation 
dealing in game or engaged in the cold storage 
business may have quail in possession in cold 
storage for storage purposes, at any season, if 
such quail were not taken or killed in this com- 
monwealth, and were not taken, killed, bought, 
sold or otherwise procured or disposed of, or 
transported contrary to the laws of the state or 
country in which the quail were taken, killed, 
or transported; provided, however, that such 
persons, firms or corporations shall have notified 
in writing the commissioners on fisheries and 
game on or before January first in each year, of 
the species, number of each species, and place of 
storage of such birds, and that such birds are in 
places and packages convenient for sealing, and 
that the packages are plainly marked with the 
name and number of the birds therein. The com- 
missioners or their deputies shall then place a 
seal upon all receptacles and packages containing 
any species of quail. The said seal shall not be 
removed by any person other than the commis- 
sioners on fisheries and game or their deputies, 
and shall be removed by the said commissioners 
or their deputies upon the first day of Novem- 
ber of each year. The packages so sealed shall 



GAME LAWS. 99 



not be opened or removed from that storage 
warehouse under a penalty of twenty dollars for 
each bird. But any person, firm or corporation 
holding a permit from the commissioners on 
fisheries and game may buy, sell or have in pos- 
session live quail for purposes of propagation 
within the commonwealth, and for no other 
purpose. 

Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of twenty 
dollars for each bird or part thereof, in respect to 
which the violation occurs. The possession, ex- 
cept as provided above, of quail during the sea- 
son when taking, killing, or sale is prohibited by 
law shall be prima facie evidence that the person 
having possession has violated some provision of 
this act. 

Section 5. So much of chapter ninety-two 
of the Revised Laws as is inconsistent herewith 
and chapter four hundred and forty-one of the 
acts of the year nineteen hundred and eight, and 
chapter two hundred and seventy-two of the 
acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine, and 
chapter three hundred and sixty-five of the acts 
of the year nineteen hundred and ten, are 
hereby repealed. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 19. 
Gray, European, or Hungarian partridge. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to hunt, pur- 
sue, take or kill, sell or offer for sale, or to have 
in possession, the bird known as Perdix cinerea, 
commonly called Hungarian partridge, gray or 
European partridge, except as hereinafter pro- 
vided. 

Section 2. Upon application to the commis- 
sioners on fisheries and game written permission 
may be granted to any person to engage in rear- 
ing of this bird, and to dispose of the same, 
under such rules and regulations, approved by 



100 GAME LAWS. 



the governor and council, as may be made from 
time to time by the commissioners. Such arti- 
ficially propagated birds, Hungarian partridge, 
gray or European partridge, may be sold or had 
in possession at any season of the year for pur- 
poses of propagation. 

Section 3. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act, or any rule or regulation made as 
aforesaid, shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
ing fifty dollars for each bird or part thereof in 
respect to which the violation occurs. 

Acts of 1907, Chap. 118. 
Protection of loons and eagles. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to hunt, cap- 
ture, wound or kill a loon in or upon fresh water, 
or an eagle in any place. 

Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of twenty 
dollars. 

Acts of 1906, Chap. 141, as amended by Acts of 1911, 
Chap. 18. 

To prevent the extermination of the heath hen, so 
called. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to hunt, 
take or kill that species of pinnated grouse com- 
monly called heath hen, and scientifically known 
as Tym-panuchus cupido, or to buy, sell, other- 
wise dispose of, or have in possession the same or 
any part thereof, previous to the first day of 
November in the year nineteen hundred and six- 
teen. 

Section 2. So much of section four of chap- 
ter ninety-two of the Revised Laws as is incon- 
sistent herewith is hereby repealed. 

Section 3. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of one hun- 
dred dollars for each bird or part thereof in re- 
spect to which the violation occurs. 



GAME LAWS. 101 



Acts of 1907, Chap. 504. 

Authorizes the taking 1 of certain unimproved land 
upon the island of Martha's Vineyard for the pro- 
tection of pinnated grouse and other birds. 

Section 1. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game are hereby authorized to take, or re- 
ceive as a gift, or lease, for and in the name of the 
commonwealth such unimproved lands on the 
island of Martha's Vineyard, not exceeding one 
thousand acres, and such other property as they 
may deem necessary for the purpose of making 
fire stops for the protection from fire of the feed- 
ing and breeding grounds of the pinnated grouse, 
or of otherwise securing the maintenance and 
increase of the said birds, or of any other species 
of wild birds upon said island; and the control 
and the use of the lands or other property so ac- 
quired or leased, or of any land or property 
otherwise placed under the temporary or per- 
manent control of said commissioners for the 
said purposes shall be vested in said commis- 
sioners, and the provisions of chapter three hun- 
dred and twenty-seven of the acts of the year 
nineteen hundred and six shall apply thereto. 

Section 2. Said commissioners shall, within 
thirty days after taking any land under this act, 
file and cause to be recorded in the office of the 
register of deeds for the county of Dukes County 
at Edgartown, a certificate describing by metes 
and bounds the land so taken, stating the names 
of the owners, so far as they may be known, and 
also stating the purpose of such taking as here- 
inbefore specified. Said plan and certificate 
shall be signed by said commissioners, or by a 
majority of them. 

Section 3. Any person sustaining damages 
by the taking of land as herein provided, who 
fails to agree with said commissioners as to the 
amount thereof, may, on application at any time 
within one year after the taking of such land, 
have the same assessed and determined in the 



102 GAME LAWS. 



manner provided by law in the case of land 
taken for the laying out of highways. 

Section 4. In any proceeding for the re- 
covery of damages hereunder, said commissioners 
may offer in court and may consent in writing 
that the sum therein specified may be awarded 
to the complainant as damages, and if the com- 
plainant shall not accept the same within ten 
days after he has received notice of such offer 
and shall not finally recover a greater sum than 
that offered, not including interest on the sum 
recovered in damages from the date of the offer, 
said commissioners shall be entitled to recover 
costs after such date, and the complainant, if he 
recover damages, shall be allowed costs only to 
the date of the offer unless the damages so re- 
covered shall be in excess of the amount offered 
as aforesaid by said commissioners. 

Section 5. For the purpose of acquiring said 
lands as aforesaid, and for the preparation of 
said fire stops and for other work, incidental to 
the purposes hereinbefore set forth, and for in- 
vestigating and reporting upon the best methods 
and probable cost of protecting and increasing 
the colonies of birds on the island, the sum of two 
thousand dollars may be expended; and said 
commissioners may also expend in accordance 
with the provisions of this act such other sums 
as towns, associations or individuals may from 
time to time pay to the treasurer of the common- 
wealth for the said purposes. 

Acts of 1906, Chap. 304. 
Prohibits the sale of prairie chickens. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to buy, sell, 
or otherwise dispose of, or to have in possession, a 
prairie chicken, scientifically known as Tym- 
panuchus Americanus, and as Pedioecetes phasian- 
ellus, or any part thereof, whenever or wherever 
taken. 

Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of twenty 



GAME LAWS. 103 



dollars for each bird or part thereof, in respect 
to which the violation occurs, and possession 
shall be prima facie evidence that the person 
having possession has violated the provisions of 
this act. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 343. 
Protection and importation of wild turkeys. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful prior to the 
first day of September in the year nineteen hun- 
dred and fifteen to hunt, take or kill a wild tur- 
key scientifically known as meleagris gallopavo. 

Section 2. It shall be unlawful to import 
into or to liberate within this commonwealth 
any wild turkey which is infected with the disease 
termed coccidiosis, or enter •ohepatitis, commonly 
known as "black head", or to import any living 
wild turkey except under a special written permit 
from the board of commissioners on fisheries and 
game. 

Section 3. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of twenty 
dollars. 

Acts of 1900, Chap. 274, as amended by Acts of 1911, 
Chap. 39. 

Relative to the protection of wood or summer duck. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful, prior to the 
first day of September in the year nineteen hun- 
dred and sixteen, to hunt, capture, wound or kill 
a wood or summer duck. 

Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of not more 
than fifty dollars for each violation. The posses- 
sion of any wood duck or summer duck, or any 
part thereof, shall be prima facie evidence of a 
violation of the provisions of this act. 

Acts of 1909, Chap. 362. 
State reservations are refugre3 for birds and game. 

Section 1. No person shall hunt, pursue, 
take, kill or in any manner molest or destroy any 



104 GAME LAWS. 



wild bird or game within the exterior boundaries 
of any state reservation, park, common or any 
land held in trust for public use, except that the 
authorities or persons having the control and 
charge of such reservations, parks, commons or 
other lands may in their discretion, and with 
such limitations as they may deem advisable, 
authorize persons to hunt, take or kill within 
said boundaries any wild birds or animals which 
are not now protected by law. Such authoriza- 
tions shall be by written license, and the license 
shall be revocable at the pleasure of the authori- 
ties or persons granting it. 

Section 2. The boards, officials and persons 
having charge of reservations, parks, commons 
and lands held for public use shall enforce the 
provisions of this act. 

Section 3. Every violation of any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
ing twenty-five dollars. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 410. 

Establishment of state bird and game preserves and 
the protection and propagation of wild birds and 
quadrupeds. 

Section 1 . For the purpose of protecting any 
species of useful wild birds or quadrupeds and for 
aiding the propagation thereof the board of com- 
missioners on fisheries and game may acquire in 
fee by purchase, gift or devise, or may lease, or, 
with the consent of the owners, may control any 
land, water or shore or the right to use the same, 
including the right of the public in such land or 
on such water or shore, as a bird and game pre- 
serve. 

Section 2. For the purposes aforesaid the 
said commissioners, upon a petition filed with 
them by the mayor and aldermen of a city or the 
selectmen of a town, or by one or more owners 
of land, water or shore, if satisfied of the suitable 
character and situation of the same, may, with 
the consent of the owners, order a close season 



GAME LAWS. 105 



for one or more periods, not exceeding five years 
each, on all wild birds and quadrupeds within 
the area or any part thereof specified in the peti- 
tion. But before making any order under such 
petition, the commissioners shall give a public 
hearing upon the matter at some place in or near 
the territory under consideration, of which meet- 
ing and of their intention in the matter notice 
shall be given by publication once a week for 
two successive weeks in one or more newspapers 
published in the county or counties embracing 
the territory, the last publication to be at least 
seven days prior to the time fixed for the hear- 
ing. 

Section 3. In respect to any territory ac- 
quired or controlled as above provided or any 
territory upon which a close season has been 
ordered as above provided, the said commis- 
sioners may make such use of the land, water or 
shore within the territory as they ma}' deem best 
for the purpose of improving the feeding and 
nesting environment of birds or game, and may 
from time to time make such rules and regula- 
tions relating to such territory as may seem to 
them proper, and such rules and regulations 
when approved by the governor and council 
shall have the force of laws. The said commis- 
sioners are authorized to liberate birds within 
the limits of the said reservations, and, when in 
their opinion such action is advisable, to co- 
operate with land owners within such territory 
in experiments in the propagation of birds or 
quadrupeds. 

Section 4. The said commissioners may ap- 
point deputies to enforce the provisions of this 
act and any rules and regulations made here- 
under, and may authorize in writing any such 
deputy or the owner or occupant of any land 
within any such territory to hunt, pursue, trap, 
snare or kill within the said territory and under 
the direction of the said commissioners any 
quadrupeds or birds which they may consider 



106 GAME LAWS. 



harmful to birds and game or to agriculture, or 
to take or remove the nests or eggs of any such 
bird. 

Section 5. If an order is made by the com- 
missioners as aforesaid establishing a close sea- 
son or a preserve as above provided, the com- 
mission shall cause a copy of the order to be 
published once a week for two successive weeks in 
one or more newspaper published in the county 
or counties embracing the territory, and shall 
cause copies of the order to be posted in con- 
spicuous places within the cities or towns in 
which the territory is situated, and also within 
the limits of the territory itself. If a great pond 
or any part thereof or any seashore is included 
within the territory as to which a close season is 
ordered as aforesaid, a copy of the order shall be 
filed in the office of the clerk of any city or town 
bordering upon the pond or seashore, and also 
in the office of the secretary of the common- 
wealth. An order made by the commission in 
accordance with the provisions hereof shall take 
effect, when it is posted as above provided. 
Any order made in accordance with the provi- 
sions hereof shall contain a full description of the 
territory so established, and the period for which 
it is closed, if any such period is adopted. 

Section 6. The commissioners may annually 
expend, in carrying out the provisions of this 
act, such sum as the general court may from 
year to year appropriate, which shall be paid out 
of the treasury of the commonwealth. 

Section 7. Whenever a territory has been 
established as a preserve or when a close season 
has been established upon a territory by an 
order as above provided, it shall be unlawful for 
any person, except as above provided, to molest, 
hunt, pursue, take or kill any bird or quadruped 
within the said territory, or therein to disturb 
or injure any nest, eggs or young or to remove 
the eggs or young from the nest. 



GAME LAWS. 107 



Section 8. The entrance of any person with 
a firearm or any device adapted for killing or 
injuring birds or quadrupeds or with a trap or 
snare upon any territory established as a pre- 
serve, or upon any territory upon which a close 
season has been established, according to the 
provisions of this act, shall be prima facie evi- 
dence of a violation of the provisions of this 
act. 

Section 9. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act or of any rule or regulation made here- 
under shall be punished by a fine of not more 
than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment 
for not more than sixty days, or by both such 
fine and imprisonment. 

Acts of 1909, Chap. 421. 
Protection of ducks, geese, brant and swans. 

Section 1 . It shall be unlawful to kill a swan 
at any time or to pursue, hunt, take or kill any 
other of the Anatidae, commonly known as wild 
geese, brant, ducks and teal between the thirty- 
first day of December and the fifteenth day of 
September following, or to buy, sell, offer for 
sale, or have in possession any swan or any other 
of the Anatidae, or any part of any one of said 
birds during the time when the taking or killing 
of them is prohibited by law, whenever or where- 
ever said birds may be taken or killed : provided, 
however, that any person, firm or corporation 
holding a written permit from the commissioners 
on fisheries and game may buy, sell, or have in 
possession any species of the Anatidae for pur- 
poses of propagation only; and provided, further, 
that nothing in this act shall prevent the taking 
or possession of any of said birds by incorporated 
natural history associations and museums, or 
holders of certificates legally authorizing the 
collection of specimens for scientific purposes, 
or continued possession of such birds or parts 
thereof for scientific purposes by such museums, 



10S GAME LAWS. 



associations or holders of such certificates, and 
provided, further, that a person, firm or corpora- 
tion dealing in game or engaged in the cold stor- 
age business may have in possession for storage 
any species of duck or goose, between the first 
day of January and the fifteenth day of Septem- 
ber following, if such birds were not taken or 
killed in this commonwealth contrary to the pro- 
visions of this act, or were not taken, killed, or 
transported contrary to the law of the state or 
country in which such birds were taken or killed, 
and provided, also, that such persons, firms or 
corporations shall have notified in writing the 
commissioners on fisheries and game on or before 
January first of the species, number of each spe- 
cies, and place of storage of such birds, and that 
such birds are in places and packages convenient 
for sealing. The commissioners or their depu- 
ties shall then place a seal upon all receptacles 
and packages containing any species of wild duck 
or goose. The said seal shall not be removed by 
any person other than the commissioners on fish- 
eries and game or their deputies, under a penalty 
of twenty dollars for each bird, and shall be re- 
moved by the said commissioners or their depu- 
ties upon the fifteenth day of September of each 
year. The packages or contents thereof so sealed 
shall not be removed from the storage warehouse 
until the seal has been removed as above pro- 
vided, under a penalty of twenty dollars for each 
bird. 

Section 2. Any resident of the common- 
wealth may apply to the commissioners on fish- 
eries and game for a permit to bring into the 
commonwealth any of the above named species 
of birds, during the close season above provided, 
to a number not exceeding fifty birds in any one 
year, and the said commissioners may grant such 
permits upon such conditions and for such terms 
as they may deem expedient, and they may sus- 
pend or revoke a permit so granted. 



GAME LAWS. 109 



Section 3. All acts and parts of acts incon- 
sistent herewith, excepting chapter two hundred 
and seventy-four of the acts of the year nineteen 
hundred and six, which establishes a close season 
on the wood duck until the year nineteen hun- 
dred and eleven, are hereby repealed. 

Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
than- twenty dollars for each offence. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 1S7. 
Shooting of certain wild fowl. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to pursue, 
hunt, take or kill any of the wild fowl included 
under the name of Anatidce during the time be- 
tween two hours after sunset and two hours 
before sunrise. 

Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
of this act shall be fined a sum not exceeding 
fifty dollars for each bird in respect to which the 
violation occurs. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 188. 

Limits the number of black ducks that may be taken 
in any one day. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
son to take or kill more than fifteen black ducks 
in any one calendar day. 

Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
of this act shall be fined not less than twenty 
dollars for each bird in respect to which the viola- 
tion occurs. 

Acts of 1905, Chap. 273. 
Shooting wild ducks and geese in Dukes County. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful in the county 
of Dukes County for any person to shoot or kill 
wild ducks or geese in any fresh water pond from 
a boat, raft or other device located at a greater 
distance than fifty yards from the shore. 



110 GAME LAWS. 



Section 2. Any person violating any pro- 
vision of this act shall be punished by a fine of 
not less than five nor more than two hundred and 
fifty dollars. 

Acts of 1908, Chap. 331. 

Pursuit and shooting of wild fowl in certain waters 
of the town of Edgartown. 

Section 1 . No person shall, in or with, any 
boat, hunt, chase or pursue any wild water-fowl 
in the inner harbor of Edgartown, including those 
parts known as Katama bay and Mattakessett 
bay, or in Cape Poge pond, so-called, in Edgar- 
town, or in that part of the outer harbor of Ed- 
gartown which lies southerly or easterly of a 
straight line drawn from Cape Poge lighthouse to 
and through and onward from the harbor light- 
house of Edgartown; and no person shall in or 
upon any of said waters shoot at any wild water- 
fowl from any boat unless said boat be lying at 
anchor or be stationed upon the shore or other 
land or upon or against the ice: provided, how- 
ever, that for the purpose of killing and securing 
any wild water-fowl just wounded by him or his 
companion, in lawful shooting, any person may 
pursue such wounded fowl with a boat, propelled 
by oar or oars only, to a distance not exceeding 
one hundred yards from the spot where the same 
was wounded, and may shoot the same from said 
boat within said distance. 

Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
than five nor more than fifty dollars. 

Acts of 1907, Chap. 234. 

Hunting wild ducks or geese on fresh-water ponds 
in the county of Dukes County. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful in the county 
of Dukes County for any person to pursue, drive, 
hunt, injure, shoot or kill wild ducks or geese in 



GAME LAWS. Ill 



any fresh water pond from a boat, raft or other 
floating device. 

Section 2. Any person violating any pro- 
vision of this act shall be punished by a fine of 
not less than five nor more than two hundred and 
fifty dollars for each offence. 

Section 3. Any acts or parts of acts incon- 
sistent herewith are hereby repealed. 

Acts of 1906, Chap. 292, as amended by Acts op 1911, 
Chap. 234. 

Use of live decoys prohibited for hunting water fowl 
in the county of Nantucket. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to use live 
decoj^s for the hunting, taking or killing of water 
fowl of any kind in the county of Nantucket. 
The possession of live decoys shall be deemed 
prima facie evidence of an intent to use the same 
for the hunting, taking or killing of water fowl in 
violation of the provisions of this section. 

Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
than twenty nor more than fifty dollars for each 
offence. 

Acts of 1910, Chap. 472. 

Protecting upland plover, wild pigeons, gulls and 
terns. 

Section 1. Whoever takes or kills a Bar- 
tramian sandpiper, also called upland plover, 
before the fifteenth day of July in the year nine- 
teen hundred and fifteen, a wild or passenger 
pigeon, a Carolina or mourning dove, a gull or 
tern at any time, shall be punished by a fine of 
ten dollars for every bird so taken or killed. 

Section 2. Section five of chapter ninety- 
two of the Revised Laws as amended by chapter 
one hundred and sixty-two of the acts of the year 
nineteen hundred and three, and by chapter four 
hundred and fourteen of the acts of the year nine- 
teen hundred and five, and so much of section 



112 GAME LAWS. 



three of chapter five hundred and eight of the 
acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine as- 
relates to the Bartramian sandpiper, also called 
upland plover, are hereby repealed. 

Section 3. This act shall take effect on the 
fifteenth day of July in the year nineteen hundred 
and ten. 

Acts of 1903, Chap. 244. 
Protection of certain marsh birds. 

Section 1. Whoever takes or kills any heron 
or bittern, or has in possession any such bird or 
part thereof, whenever or wherever taken, shall 
be punished by a fine not exceeding ten dollars- 
for every bird so taken or killed, or bird or part 
of a bird so had in possession. 

Section 2. Nothing in this act shall prevent 
the owner or keeper of any trout pond or trout 
hatchery from killing any heron or bittern en- 
gaged in the act of destroying fish; nor shall 
anything herein contained prevent the taking or 
possession of said birds by natural history asso- 
ciations, museums, or holders of certificates 
authorizing the collection of specimens for scien- 
tific purposes. 

Acts of 1909, Chap. 508. 
Protection of shore, marsh and beach birds. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to take, 
kill or pursue with intent to kill, or to buy, sell, 
offer for sale, or have in possession any of the 
Limicolae, known as peeps, plover, snipe or sand- 
pipers or any of the Rallidae known as rails, galli- 
nules and quarks or mud hens, all of which birds 
are known collectively as shore, marsh or beach 
birds, between the thirty-first day of December 
and the first day of August following, or a piping 
plover or a kildeer plover at any time: provided, 
however, that this act shall not be construed to 
prohibit the possession in public storage ware- 
houses of any of the said birds deposited therein 
during the season when the same may lawfully 



GAME LAWS. 113 



be taken; and provided, further, that nothing in 
this act shall prohibit the taking or possession of 
the said birds by incorporated natural history 
associations or museums or by holders of cer- 
tificates lawfully authorizing the collection of 
specimens for scientific purposes. 

Section 2. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game may, in their discretion, and under 
such restrictions as they may impose, permit any 
person to bring into the commonwealth any of 
the aforesaid birds to a number not exceeding 
fifty in any one year, during the close season: 
provided, that such birds shall not be sold or 
otherwise disposed of for profit. 

Section '6. All acts and parts of acts incon- 
sistent with the provisions of this act are hereby 
repealed, except that part of section five of 
chapter ninety-two of the Revised Laws, as 
amended by chapter one hundred and sixty-two 
of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
three and by chapter four hundred and fourteen 
of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and five, 
relative to the Bartramian sandpiper, also called 
upland plover, and that part of section one of 
chapter four hundred and forty-one of the acts of 
the year nineteen hundred and eight relative to 
the protection of woodcock. 

Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
than twenty dollars for each offence. 

AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1904, CHAP. 369. 

Shore and marsh birds can be sold only during open 
season. 

Section 6. Whoever buys, sells, exposes for 
sale, or has in possession any of the birds named 
in and protected by section five or section seven 
of this chapter, during the time within which the 
taking or killing thereof is prohibited, whenever 
or wherever such birds may have been taken or 
killed, shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars 



114 



GAME LAWS. 



for each bird; but a person, firm or corporation 
dealing in game or engaged in the cold storage 
business may have in possession, for storage pur- 
poses only, the so-called shore, marsh and beach 
birds during the time within which the taking or 
killing of them is prohibited. 

Revised Laws, Chap. 92, Sect. 7, as amended by Acts 
op 1907, Chap. 250. 

Relative to certain birds of prey. 

Section 1. Whoever takes or kills a wild or 
undomesticated bird not named in sections two, 
three, four and five, except English sparrows, 
crow blackbirds, crows, jays, the following named 
birds of prey, — sharp-shinned hawk, cooper's 
hawk, goshawk, red-tailed hawk, red-shouldered 
hawk, duck hawk, pigeon hawk, barred owl, 
great horned owl and snowy owl, — wild geese 
and fresh water and sea fowl not named in said 
sections, or wilfully destroys, disturbs or takes 
a nest or eggs of any wild or undomesticated 
birds, except such as are not protected by the 
provisions of this section, shall be punished by 
a fine of ten dollars for each bird taken or killed 
or each nest or egg destroyed, disturbed or 
taken contrary to the provisions of this section; 
but a person over twenty-one years of age, who 
has a certificate from the commissioners on 
fisheries and game or from the president of the 
Boston Society of Natural History that he is 
engaged in the scientific study of ornithology or 
is collecting in the interest of a scientific in- 
stitution, may at any season take or kill or take 
the nests and eggs of an undomesticated bird, 
except woodcock, ruffed grouse and quail; but 
the provisions of this section shall not authorize 
a person to enter upon private grounds without 
the consent of the owner thereof for the purpose 
of taking nests or eggs or killing birds. Said 
commissioners or the president of said society 
may at any time revoke such certificate. 



GAME LAWS. 115 



Section 2. Section one of chapter one hun- 
dred and twenty-seven of the acts of the year 
nineteen hundred and two is hereby amended by 
striking out the words " birds of prey," in the 
fifth line, and inserting in place thereof the words : 
— the following named birds of prey, — sharp- 
shinned hawk, cooper's hawk, goshawk, red- 
tailed hawk, red-shouldered hawk, duck hawk, 
pigeon hawk, barred owl, great horned owl and 
snowy owl, — so as to read as follows : — Sec- 
tion 1. Whoever captures or has in possession 
a wild or undomesticated bird not named in 
sections two, three, four or five of chapter ninety- 
two of the Revised Laws, except English spar- 
rows, crow blackbirds, crows, jays, the following 
named birds of prey, — sharp-shinned hawk, 
cooper's hawk, goshawk, red-tailed hawk, red- 
shouldered hawk, duck hawk, pigeon hawk, 
barred owl, great horned owl and snowy owl, — 
wild geese and fresh water and sea fowl not 
named in said sections, and birds which are not 
found wild within the commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts, shall be punished by a fine of ten dol- 
lars, but this act shall not apply to birds held in 
captivity before this act takes effect. 

Acts of 1903, Chap. 329. 
Bodies or feathers of certain birds. 

Section 1. Whoever has in possession the 
body or feathers of a bird, the taking or killing 
of which is prohibited by the provisions of the 
preceding section or of section five of this chapter 
whether taken in this commonwealth or else- 
where, or wears such feathers for the purpose of 
dress or ornament, shall be punished by a fine of 
ten dollars; but the provisions of this section 
shall not prohibit the taking or killing of such 
birds by the holders of certificates provided for 
in the preceding section, nor shall they apply to 
natural history associations or to the proprietors 
of museums, or other collections for scientific 



116 GAME LAWS. 



purposes, or to non-residents of the common- 
wealth passing through it or temporarily dwell- 
ing therein. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 198. 
Protection of homing pigeons. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
son, not being the rightful owner, to catch, de- 
tain, shoot or kill, injure, or in any way interfere 
with a homing or carrier pigeon, or to remove 
any identification mark, band or other thing 
from such a pigeon. 

Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
than twenty-five nor more than fifty dollars for 
each pigeon in respect to which the violation 
occurs. 

Acts of 1907, Chap. 161. 

Special game laws in Bristol county made uniform 
with the General Laws. 

Chapter three hundred and sixty-six of the 
acts of the year nineteen hundred and four is 
hereby repealed. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 172. 
Gray squirrels. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful except only 
between the fifteenth day of October and the 
fifteenth day of November of each year, both 
days inclusive, to hunt, take or kill a gray squir- 
rel, or to sell, or offer for sale, or to have in pos- 
session for the purpose of sale, a gray squirrel, 
wherever taken or killed, or to take or kill at any 
time a gray squirrel by means of a trap, net or 
snare, or for the purpose of killing a gray squirrel 
to construct or set a trap, snare or net. 

Section 2. This act shall not apply to the 
owner or occupant of any dwelling house or 
other building who shall find any gray squirrel 
doing an actual and substantial damage to the 
same, or to any fruit tree, grain or other growing 
cultivated crop. 



GAME LAWS. 117 



Section 3. Chapter five hundred and sixty- 
four of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
ten is hereby repealed. 

Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall forfeit not less than ten nor 
more than twenty-five dollars for each offence. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 118. 
Hares and rabbits. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to hunt, 
take or kill a hare or rabbit between the first day 
of March and the fifteenth day of October, both 
inclusive, or to buy or sell or offer for sale a 
hare or rabbit taken or killed during the said 
period in this commonwealth, or taken or killed 
at any time contrary to the laws of any other 
state or country. But any person may buy or 
sell hares or rabbits at any time: provided, that 
they were not taken or killed contrary to the 
laws of this commonwealth or of any other state 
or country. 

Section 2. It shall be unlawful at any time 
to remove or attempt to remove a hare or rabbit 
from any hole in the ground or from any stone 
wall or from under any ledge of stone or log or 
tree, and it shall be unlawful to take or kill a 
hare or rabbit by a trap, snare or net, or for that 
purpose to construct or set a trap, snare or net, 
or to use a ferret. The possession of a ferret in 
a place where hares or rabbits might be taken or 
killed shall be prima facie evidence that the per- 
son having the ferret in possession has used it 
for taking and killing hares or rabbits contrary 
to law. Ferrets used in violation hereof shall be 
confiscated. 

Section 3. This act shall not be construed 
to prohibit farmers and fruit growers from trap- 
ping rabbits in box traps at any time during the 
year: provided, first, that such trapping is done 
on land owned or leased by the person setting 
the trap and used for the raising of fruit, vege- 



118 GAME LAWS. 



tables or other products by the person so trap- 
ping shall first have made an affidavit before 
a justice of the peace that hares or rabbits have 
injured fruit, vegetables or other products on 
his said premises and shall have forwarded the 
affidavit so made to the commissioners on 
fisheries and game; and thirdly, that the said 
commissioners have issued to him a permit so to 
trap. It shall be unlawful to barter or sell hares 
or rabbits trapped in accordance with the pro- 
visions of this section. 

Section 4. Chapter four hundred and sixty- 
six of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
nine and section two of chapter five hundred and 
thirty-three of the acts of the year nineteen 
hundred and ten are hereby repealed. 

Section 5. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
ing ten dollars for each offence. 

Acts of 1910, Chap. 533, as amended by Acts of 1911, 
Chap. 101. 

Use of traps, snares, torches, swivel guns, ferrets, 
power boats, etc., illegal. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to take or 
kill a game bird or water fowl by means of a 
trap, net or snare, or for the purpose of killing 
a game bird or water fowl to construct or set a 
trap, net or snare, or to pursue, shoot at or kill 
any wild fowl, or any of the so-called shore, 
marsh or beach birds, with a swivel or pivot gun, 
or by the use of a torch, jack or artificial light, 
or by the aid or use of any boat or floating de- 
vice propelled by steam, naphtha, gasolene, elec- 
tricity, compressed air, or any similar motive 
power, or by any mechanical means other than 
sails, oars or paddles. But the provisions of 
this chapter shall not apply to persons shooting 
at, or killing said birds from such boats or float- 
ing devices if the same are at anchor. 



GAME LAWS. 119 



Section 2. [Chapter 533, Acts of 1910, re- 
pealed by chapter 118, Acts of 1911.] 

Section 3. The provisions of the preceding 
section shall not apply to the trapping, other 
than by snare, of hares and rabbits upon his land 
by an owner of land, or by a member of his family 
if authorized by him, between the fifteenth day 
of October and the first day of December. 

Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
ceeding twenty-five dollars for each offence. 

Section 5. Section twelve of chapter ninety- 
two of the Revised Laws, as amended by chapter 
two hundred and seventy-eight of the acts of the 
year nineteen hundred and six, and section eleven 
of said chapter ninety-two, as amended by 
chapter two hundred and forty-one of the acts 
of the year nineteen hundred and six, and by 
chapter three hundred and twenty-eight of the 
acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine are 
hereby repealed. 

Acts of 1911, Chap. 215. 
Trapping with scented bait forbidden. 

Every person who shall set, place or locate a 
trap or snare of any kind with scent, so-called, or 
scented bait upon or near the premises of another, 
without the consent of the owner and occupant 
of said premises, shall, upon conviction, be pun- 
ished for each offence by a fine of not more than 
fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more 
than thirty days, or by both such fine and im- 
prisonment. 

Shooting, Plymouth bay. 

Section 13. Whoever in Plymouth harbor 
or bay, so-called, including the waters adjacent 
to the towns of Plymouth, Kingston and Dux- 
bury, shoots at, kills or pursues a black duck, 
goose, brant or other aquatic bird by the use of 



120 GAME LAWS. 



a sneak boat, raft, floating box or similar device, 
not an ordinary dory or rowboat, or by the use 
of a pivot gun or swivel gun or any other firearm 
not usually held and discharged from the shoulder 
shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor 
more than fifty dollars. 

Trespass. 

Section 14. Whoever, for the purpose of 
shooting or trapping, enters upon land without 
permission of the owner thereof, after such owner 
has conspicuously posted thereon notice that 
shooting or trapping thereon is prohibited, shall 
be punished by a fine of not more than twenty 
dollars. 

Ownership of game. 

Section 15. Game artificially propagated and 
maintained upon land, upon which notice has 
been posted as provided in the preceding section, 
shall be the exclusive property of the person 
propagating and maintaining it, but if he sells 
such game for food at seasons when its capture 
is prohibited by law, he shall be punished by a 
fine of not more than twenty dollars. 

Acts of 1909, Chap. 309. 
Pheasants. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful to hunt, pur- 
sue, take or kill, sell or offer for sale or to have in 
possession, a pheasant of any kind or the flesh of 
any pheasant except as hereinafter provided. 

Section 2. Upon application to the commis- 
sioners on fisheries and game, written permission 
may be granted to any person to engage in the 
rearing of pheasants and to dispose of the same, 
under such rules and regulations, approved by 
the governor and council, as may be made from 
time to time by the commissioners; and such 
artificially propagated pheasants may be bought 
or sold or had in possession at any season of the 



GAME LAWS. 121 



year, and any person receiving such permission 
may hunt, pursue, take or kill such pheasants 
upon the land owned or leased by him. 

Section 3. Whoever violates any provision 
of this act, or any rule or regulation made as 
aforesaid, shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
ing fifty dollars for each bird or part thereof in 
respect to which the violation occurs. 

Section 4. Chapter four hundred and 
seventy-seven of the acts of the year nineteen 
hundred and eight is hereby repealed. 

Acts of 1910, Chap. 545. 
The taking or killing of deer. 

Section 1. It shall be unlawful, except as 
hereinafter provided, to hunt, pursue, wound or 
kill a deer, or to sell or offer for sale, or to have 
in possession for the purpose of sale, a deer or 
the flesh of a deer captured or killed in this com- 
monwealth: provided, that this act shall not 
apply to a tame deer belonging to any person 
and kept on his own premises; and provided, 
further, that any farmer or other person may, on 
land owned or occupied by him, pursue, wound 
or kill any deer found destroying or injuring any 
fruit tree or any crop, except grass growing on 
uncultivated land; and he may authorize any 
member of his family, or any person employed 
by him so to pursue, wound or kill a deer under 
the circumstances above specified. In the event 
of the wounding or killing of a deer as aforesaid, 
it shall be the duty of the person by whom or 
under whose direction the deer was wounded or 
killed to mail or otherwise transmit within 
twenty-four hours thereafter to the commis- 
sioners on fisheries and game a report in writing 
signed by him, of the facts relative to the said 
wounding or killing. The said report shall state 
the time and the place of the wounding or killing, 
and the kind of tree or crop injured or destroyed 
by the deer. It shall be unlawful to sell or offer 



122 GAME LAWS. 



for sale the whole or any part of a deer killed 
under the aforesaid provision. 

Section 2. Any person who is duly licensed 
to hunt in this commonwealth according to the 
provisions of chapter four hundred and eighty- 
four of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
and eight as amended by chapter three hundred 
and twenty-five of the acts of the year nineteen 
hundred and nine may, between sunrise of the 
third Monday of November and sunset of the 
following Saturday, hunt, pursue, take or kill 
by the use of a shotgun, a wild deer, in the 
counties of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, 
Hampshire and Worcester, subject to the fol- 
lowing restrictions and provisions: No person 
shall kill or have in possession more than one 
deer killed under the provisions of this section. 
No deer shall be hunted, taken or killed on 
land posted in accordance with the provisions of 
section fourteen of chapter ninety-two of the 
Revised Laws, or in violation of any city ordi- 
nance or town by-law, or in any state reserva- 
tion, or by any method prohibited by law. It 
shall be unlawful to make, set or use any trap, 
salt lick or other device for the purpose of en- 
snaring, enticing, taking, injuring or killing a 
deer. Whoever wounds or kills a deer under 
the provisions of this section shall make a report 
in writing, signed by him, and mailed or other- 
wise transmitted within twenty-four hours, of 
said wounding or killing, to the commissioners 
on fisheries and game, stating the facts relative 
to the wounding or killing. 

Section 3. Nothing in this act shall be con- 
strued as affecting the provisions of section eight- 
een of chapter ninety-two of the Revised Laws, 
as amended by chapter two hundred and forty- 
five of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
five. 

Section 4. Section seventeen of chapter 
ninety-two of the Revised Laws, as amended by 



GAME LAWS. 123 



chapter three hundred and seven of the acts of 
the year nineteen hundred and seven, and by 
chapter three hundred and seventy-seven of the 
acts of the year nineteen hundred and eight, 
and by chapter three hundred and ninety-six of 
the acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine 
is hereby repealed. 

Section 5. A violation of any provision of 
this act shall be punished by fine not exceeding 
one hundred dollars for each offence. 

AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1905, CHAP. 245. 

Protection of deer from dogs. 

Section 18. The owner or keeper of a dog 
found chasing or hunting deer at any time may 
be punished by a fine of not more than twenty 
dollars. Any of the commissioners on fisheries 
and game, or their deputies, or any member of 
the district police, or any officer qualified to serve 
criminal process, may kill a dog found chasing 
or hunting deer at any time if the dog is used for 
such purpose with the knowledge and consent of 
such owner or keeper, and the owner or keeper 
of such dog shall be punished by a fine of fifty 
dollars. If a dog has twice been found chasing or 
hunting deer, and if the owner or keeper of the 
dog has so been notified on each occasion by the 
commissioners on fisheries and game, it shall be a 
presumption of law, if the same dog is thereafter 
found chasing or hunting deer, that such chasing 
or hunting was with the knowledge and consent 
of the said owner or keeper, unless the contrary 
is shown by evidence. 

Acts of 1903, Chap. 407. 
Recovery for damages caused by wild deer. 

Whoever suffers loss by the eating, browsing 
or trampling of his fruit or ornamental trees, 
vegetables, produce or crops by wild deer may, 
if the damage is done in a city, inform the officer 



124 GAME LAWS. 



of police of said city, who shall be designated to 
receive such information by the mayor, and if the 
damage is done in a town, may inform the chair- 
man of the selectmen of the town wherein the 
damage was done, who shall proceed to the prem- 
ises where the damage was done and determine 
whether the same was inflicted by deer, and if so, 
appraise the amount thereof if it does not exceed 
twenty dollars. If, in the opinion of said officer 
of police or chairman, the amount of said damage 
exceeds twenty dollars, he shall appoint two dis- 
interested persons, who, with himself, shall 
appraise under oath the amount thereof. The 
said officer of police or chairman shall return a 
certificate of the damages found, except in the 
county of Suffolk, to the treasurer of the county 
in which the damage is done, within ten days after 
such appraisal is made. The treasurer shall 
thereupon submit the same to the county com- 
missioners, who, within thirty days, shall ex- 
amine all such bills, and if any doubt exists, may 
summon the appraisers and all parties interested 
and make such examination as they may think 
proper, and he shall transmit such bills, properly 
approved, to the auditor of accounts, and they 
shall be paid out of the treasury of the common- 
wealth in the same manner as other claims against 
the commonwealth. In the county of Suffolk 
the certificate of damages shall be returned to 
the treasurer of the city or town in which the 
damage is done, who shall exercise and -perform 
the rights and duties hereby conferred and im- 
posed upon the county commissioners in other 
counties. The appraisers shall receive from the 
county, — or in the county of Suffolk, from the 
city or town treasurer — one dollar each for every 
such examination made by them, and the officer 
or the chairman of selectmen acting in the case 
shall receive twenty cents a mile, one way, for his 
necessary travel. 



GAME LAWS. 125 



Authority of commissioners. 

Section 19. The authority of the commis- 
sioners on fisheries and game and of their deputies 
shall extend to the propagation, protection and 
preservation of birds and animals in like manner 
as to fish. 

AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1907, CHAP. 300. 

Disposal of fines. 

Section 20. [Repealed March 31, 1908; com- 
pare Acts of 1908, chapter 330, p. 82.] 

Game not to be transported out of state. 

Section 21. Whoever at any time takes or 
sends or causes to be taken or transported beyond 
the limits of the commonwealth a woodcock, 
quail or ruffed grouse, which has been taken or 
killed within the commonwealth, or has in pos- 
session such bird or birds with intent to take or 
cause the same to be taken out of the common- 
wealth, shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars 
for every bird so had in possession or taken or 
caused to be taken or sent beyond the limits of 
the commonwealth as aforesaid. 

Acts of 1902, Chap. 236. 

Section 1. Whoever, except as provided in 
section twenty-one of chapter ninety-two of the 
Revised Laws, takes or sends or causes to be 
taken or sent out of the commonwealth any bird 
or animal protected by the provisions of said 
chapter which has illegally been taken or killed 
within the commonwealth; and whoever has in 
possession any such bird or animal with intent 
to take or send the same or to cause the same to 
be taken or sent out of the commonwealth, shall 
be punished by a fine of twenty dollars for every 
bird or animal so had in possession or taken or 
sent beyond the limits of the commonwealth. 



126 GAME LAWS. 



Section 2. Section twenty-two of chapter 
ninety-two of the Revised Laws is hereby re- 
pealed. 

Introduction of foxes or raccoons into Dukes County 
prohibited. 

Section 23. Whoever knowingly introduces 
into the county of Dukes County and liberates 
therein a fox or raccoon shall be punished for 
each offence by a fine of not less than twenty-five 
nor more than fifty dollars or by imprisonment 
for not more than thirty days, or by both such 
fine and imprisonment. The county commis- 
sioners of said county may offer a reward for the 
destruction of hawks, foxes and raccoons, and 
authorize the payment thereof by the county 
upon proper proof of such destruction. 

English sparrows to be killed. 

Section 24. The officers having charge of 
public buildings in cities and such officers as the 
selectmen designate and appoint in towns shall 
take and enforce such reasonable means and use 
such appliances, except poison, as in their judg- 
ment will effectively exterminate the English 
sparrow in such city or town. Whoever wilfully 
resists such officers while engaged in such duties 
or knowingly interferes with the means used by 
them for such purpose so as to render them 
less effective shall be punished by a fine of not 
more than twenty-five dollars for each offence. 
The provisions of this section shall not authorize 
an officer to enter on private property without 
the consent of the owner or occupant thereof. 

Acts of 1903, Chap. 344. 

A bounty for killing a wild cat, Canada lynx or loup- 
cervier. 

Section 1 . Whoever in any town kills a wild 
cat, Canada lynx or loupcervier not being in 
captivity shall, upon producing satisfactory evi- 



GAME LAWS. 127 



dence of such killing, be entitled to receive from 
the treasurer of the town the sum of five dollars; 
and all sums so paid out shall be repaid to the 
town treasurer by the treasurer of the county 
in which the town is situated: provided, that a 
sworn statement thereof shall be transmitted 
by the town treasurer to the county treasurer. 



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132 DISTRICTS, CITIES AND TOWNS. 



CITIES AND TOWNS ALPHABETICALLY AR- 
RANGED, WITH THE NUMBER OF THE DIS- 
TRICT IN WHICH EACH IS INCLUDED. 



8 Abington. 


3 Bourne. 


15 Acton. 


15 Boxborough. 


4 Aeushnet. 


13 Boxford. 


26 Adams. 


17 Boylston. 


22 Agawam. 


8 Braintree. 


28 AKord. 


3 Brewster. 


13 Amesbury. 


7 Bridgewater. 


22 Amherst. 


21 Brimfield. 


13 Andover. 


7 Brockton. 


11 Arlington. 


17 Brookfield. 


18 Ashburnham. 


11 Brookline. 


18 Ashby. 


25 Buckland. 


25 Ashfield. 


13 Burlington. 


10 Ashland. 


11 Cambridge. 


19 Athol. 


9 Canton. 


5 Attleborough. 


15 Carlisle. 


17 Auburn. 


6 Carver. 


7 Avon. 


26 Charlemont. 


15 Ayer. 


21 Charlton. 


3 Barnstable. 


3 Chatham. 


20 Barre. 


15 Chelmsford. 


27 Becket. 


11 Chelsea. 


13 Bedford. 


26 Cheshire. 


20 Belchertown. 


23 Chester. 


9 Bellingham. 


24 Chesterfield. 


11 Belmont. 


22 Chicopee. 


5 Berkley. 


2 Chilmark. 


10 Berlin. 


26 Clarksburg. 


25 Bernardston. 


17 Clinton. 


12 Beverly. 


8 Cohasset. 


13 Billerica. 


25 Colrain. 


16 Blackstone. 


15 Concord. 


23 Blandford. 


25 Conway. 


15 Bolton. 


24 Cummington 


11 Boston. 


27 Dalton. 



DISTRICTS, CITIES AND TOWNS. 133 



20 Dana. 

14 Danvers. 

4 Dartmouth. 

11 Dedham. 

25 Deerfield. 
3 Dennis. 

5 Dighton. 
16 Douglas. 

10 Dover. 
13 Dracut. 

21 Dudley. 

15 Dunstable. 
7 Duxbury. 

7 East Bridgewater. 

22 East Longmeadow. 

3 Eastham. 

24 Easthampton. 
7 Easton. 

2 Edgartown. 
28 Egremont. 
20 Enfield. 
19 Erving. 

12 Essex. 

11 Everett. 

4 Fairhaven. 

5 Fall River. 
2 Falmouth. 

18 Fitchburg. 

26 Florida. 

9 Foxborough. 
10 Framingham. 
9 Franklin. 
4 Freetown. 

19 Gardner. 

2 Gay Head. 

12 Georgetown. 

25 Gill. 

12 Gloucester. 
24 Goshen. 
2 Gosnold. 

16 Grafton. 
22 Granbv. 



23 Granville. 

28 Great Barrington 

25 Greenfield. 
20 Greenwich. 
15 Groton. 

13 Groveland. 
22 Hadley. 

7 Halifax. 

12 Hamilton. 
22 Hampden. 
27 Hancock. 

8 Hanover. 

7 Hanson. 

20 Hard wick. 

15 Harvard. 
3 Harwich. 

24 Hatfield. 

13 Haverhill. 

26 Hawley. 

26 Heath. 

8 Hingham. 

27 Hinsdale. 
8 Holbrook. 

17 Holden. 

21 Holland. 
10 Holliston. 

22 Holyoke. 

16 Hopedale. 
10 Hopkinton. 
19 Hubbardston. 

10 Hudson. 
8 Hull. 

23 Huntington. 

11 Hyde Park. 

12 Ipswich. 
7 Kingston. 
6 Lakeville. 

18 Lancaster. 

27 Lanesborough. 

13 Lawrence. 

28 Lee. 

17 Leicester. 



134 DISTRICTS, CITIES AND TOWNS. 



28 Lenox. 

18 Leominster. 

25 Leverett. 

14 Lexington. 

25 Leyden. 
10 Lincoln. 

15 Littleton. 

22 Longmeadow. 

13 Lowell. 

22 Ludlow. 

18 Lunenburg. 

14 Lynn. 

14 Lynnfield. 
14 Maiden. 

12 Manchester. 
9 Mansfield. 

14 Marblehead. 
4 Marion. 

10 Marlborough. 

8 Marshfield. 

3 Mashpee. 

4 Mattapoisett. 

15 Mavnard. 

9 Medfield. 
14 Medford. 

9 Med way. 
14 Melrose. 

16 Mendon. 

13 Merrimac. 

13 Methuen. 

6 Middleborough. 

23 Middlefield. 

14 Middleton. 

10 Milford. 
16 Millbury. 

9 Millis. 

11 Milton. 

26 Monroe. 
21 Monson. 
25 Montague. 
28 Monterey. 
23 Montgomery. 



28 Mount Washington. 
14 Nahant. 

1 Nantucket. 

10 Natick. 

11 Needham. 

26 New Ash ford. 

4 New Bedford. 
17 New Braintree. 

28 New Marlborough. 
•20 New Salem. 

12 Newbury. 

12 Newbury port. 
11 Newton. 

9 Norfolk. 

26 North Adams. 

13 North Andover. 
9 N. Attleborough. 

17 North Brookfield. 

14 North Reading. 

24 Northampton. 
16 Northborough. 

16 Northbridge. 

25 Northfield. 

5 Norton. 

8 Norwell. 

9 Norwood. 

2 Oak Bluffs. 

17 Oakham. 

19 Orange. 

3 Orleans. 
28 Otis. 

16 Oxford. 
21 Palmer. 

17 Paxton. 

14 Peabodv. 

20 Pelhaim 

7 Pembroke. 

15 Pepperell. 

27 Peru. 

20 Petersham. 
19 Phillipston. 
27 Pittsfield. 



DISTRICTS, CITIES AND TOWNS. 135 



25 Plainfield. 
9 Plainville. 

6 Plymouth. 

7 Plympton. 
20 Prescott. 
18 Princeton. 

3 Provincetown. 

8 Quincy. 

8 Randolph. 

5 Raynham. 
14 Reading. 

5 Rehoboth. 
14 Revere. 
27 Richmond. 

4 Rochester. 
8 Rockland. 

12 Rockport. 
26 Rowe. 

12 Rowley. 
19 Royalston. 
23 Russell. 
17 Rutland. 
14 Salem. 

13 Salisbury. 
28 Sandisfield. 

3 Sandwich. 

14 Saugus. 
26 Savoy. 

8 Scituate. 
5 Seekonk. 

9 Sharon. 
28 Sheffield. 
25 Shelburne. 

10 Sherborn. 

15 Shirley. 

16 Shrewsbury. 
20 Shutesbury. 

5 Somerset. 

11 Somerville. 

22 South Hadley. 
24 Southampton. 

10 Southborough. 



21 Southbridge. 
23 Southwick. 

17 Spencer. 

22 Springfield. 

18 Sterling. 

28 Stockbridge. 

14 Stoneham. 

9 Stoughton. 

15 Stow. 

21 Sturbridge. 
10 Sudbury. 
25 Sunderland. 

16 Sutton. 

14 Swampscott. 

5 Swansea. 

5 Taunton. 
19 Templeton. 

13 Tewksbury. 

2 Tisbury. 
23 Tolland. 

14 Topsfield. 
18 Townsend. 

3 Truro. 

15 Tyngsborough. 
28 Tyringham. 

16 Upton. 
16 Uxbridge. 
14 Wakefield. 
21 Wales. 

9 Walpole. 

10 Waltham. 

20 Ware. 

6 Wareham. 

21 Warren. 
19 W T arwick. 
27 Washington. 

11 Watertown. 

10 Wayland. 
16 Webster. 
10 Welleslev. 

3 Wellfleet. 
19 Wendell. 



136 DISTRICTS, CITIES AND TOWNS. 



12 Wenham. 

17 West Boylston. 

7 West Bridgewater. 

21 West Brookfield. 
12 West Newbury. 

22 West Springfield. 
28 West Stockbridge. 

2 West Tisbury. 
16 Westborough. 

23 Westfield. 
15 Westford. 

24 Westhampton. 

18 Westminster. 
10 Weston. 

4 Westport. 
9 West wood. 



8 Weymouth. 

25 Whately. 
7 Whitman. 

22 Wilbraham. 
24 Williamsburg. 

26 Williamstown. 

13 Wilmington. 
19 Winchendon. 

14 Winchester. 

27 Windsor. 
11 Winthrop. 
14 Woburn. 
17 Worcester. 
24 Worthington. 

9 Wrentham. 
3 Yarmouth. 



DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 



137 



LIST OF CITIES AND TOWNS INCLUDED IN EACH 
DISTRICT ASSIGNED TO DEPUTY FISH AND 
GAME COMMISSIONERS. 

District No. 1. 

Deputy William H. Jones, Nantucket. 

Telephone, 24-32. 

Nantucket. 

District No. 2. 

Deputy Charles L. Savery, Vineyard Haven. 

Telephone, 

Deputy Allan Keniston, Edgartown. 

Telephone, 6-21. 

Gosnold. 



Chilmark. 
Edgartown 
Falmouth. 
Gav Head. 



Oak Bluffs. 
Tisbury. 
West Tisbury. 



District No. 3. 

Deputy Everett B. Mecarta, Harwich. 

Telephone, 36-4. 



Barnstable. 

Bourne. 

Brewster. 

Chatham. 

Dennis. 

Eastham. 

Harwich. 



Mash pee. 

Orleans. 

Provincetown. 

Sandwich. 

Truro. 

Wellfleet. 

Yarmouth. 



District No. 4. 

Deputy Samuel J. Lowe, New Bedford. 
Telephone, 761-2. 

Mattapoisett. 



Acushnet. 

Dartmouth 

Fairhaven. 

Freetown. 

Marion. 



New Bedford. 

Rochester. 

Westport. 



138 



DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 



District No. 5. 


Deputy Allen A. 


David, Taunton. 


Telephone, 966-1. 


Attleborough. 

Berkley. 

Dighton. 


Rehoboth. 

Seekonk. 

Somerset. 


Fall River. 


Swansea. 


Norton. 


Taunton. 


Raynham. 




District 


No. 6. 


Deputy Nathan W. Pratt, Middleborough. 


Telephon 


e, 153-4. 


Carver. 
Lakeville. 


Plymouth. 
Wareham. 


Middleborough. 




District 


No. 7. 


Deputy Charles E 


Tribou, Brockton. 


Telephor 


le, 2101. 


Avon . 


Hanson. 


Bridgewater. 


Kingston. 


Brockton. 


Pembroke. 


Duxbury. 

East Bridgewater. 


Plympton. 

West Bridgewater. 


Easton. 


Whitman. 


Halifax. 




District 


No. 8. 


Deputy, 


t 


Telephone, 




Abington. 
Braintree. 


Marshfield. 
Norwell. 


Cohasset. 
Hanover. 
Hingham. 


Quincy. 

Randolph. 

Rockland. 


Holbrook. 


Scituate. 


Hull. 


Wevmouth. 



DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 



139 



District No. 9. 
Deputy William H. Leonard, East Foxborough. 
Telephone, Foxborough 9-4. 



Bellingham. 

Canton. 

Foxborough. 

Franklin. 

Mansfield. 

Medfield. 

Med way. 

Millis. ' 

Norfolk. 



North Attleborough. 

Norwood. 

Plainville. 

Sharon. 

Stoughton. 

Walpole. 

West wood. 

Wrentham. 



District No. 10. 

Deputy James E. Bemis, South Framingham. 

Telephone, 564-J. 



Ashland. 

Berlin. 

Dover. 

Framingham. 

Holliston. 

Hopkinton. 

Hudson. 

Lincoln. 

Marlborough. 



Milford. 

Natick. 

Sherborn. 

Southborough. 

Sudbury. 

Waltham. 

Way land. 

Wellesley. 

Weston. 



District No. 11. 



Deputy Frederick W. Goodwin, East Boston. 
Telephone, East Boston 515-2. 



Arlington. 

Belmont. 

Boston. 

Brookline. 

Cambridge. 

Chelsea. 

Dedham. 

Everett. 



Hyde Park. 

Milton. 

Needham. 

Newton. 

Somerville. 

Watertown. 

Winthrop. 



140 



DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 



District No. 12. 

Deputy Carl E. Grant, Essex. 

Telephone,. 1-3. 



Beverly. 

Essex. 

Georgetown. 

Gloucester. 

Hamilton. 

Ipswich. 

Manchester. 



Newbury. 
Newbury port. 
Rockport. 
Rowley. 
Wenham. 
West Newbury. 



District No. 13. 



Deputy Walter A. Larkin, Andover. 
Telephone, Andover 32-12. 



Amesbury. 

Andover. 

Bedford. 

Billerica. 

Boxford. 

Burlington. 

Dracut. 

Groveland. 

Haverhill. 



Lawrence. 

Lowell. 

Merrimac. 

Methuen. 

North Andover. 

Salisbury. 

Tewksbury. 

Wilmington. 



District No. 14. 



Deputy Thomas L. Burney, Lynn. 
Telephone, 1983-3. 



Dan vers. 

Lexington. 

Lynn. 

Lynnfield. 

Maiden. 

Marblehead. 

Medford. 

Melrose. 

Middleton. 

Nahant. 

North Reading. 



Peabody. 

Reading. 

Revere. 

Salem. 

Saugus. 

Stoneham. 

Swampscott. 

Topsfield. 

Wakefield. 

Winchester. 

Woburn. 



DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 



141 





District No. 15. 


Deputy James 


I. Mills, Ayer. 




Telephone, 51-2. 


Acton. 




Harvard. 


Ayer. 




Littleton. 


Bolton. 




Maynard. 


Boxborougli. 




Pepperell. 


Carlisle. 




Shirley. 


Chelmsford. 




Stow. 


Concord. 




Tyngsborough. 


Dunstable. 




Westford. 


Groton. 








District 


No. 16. 


Deputy G 


GORGE H 


Brown, Millbury. 




Telephon 


e, 26-13. 


Blackstone. 




Oxford. 


Douglas. 




Shrewsbury. 


Grafton. 




Sutton. 


Hopedale. 




Upton. 


Mendon. 




Uxbridge. 


Millbury. 




Webster. 


Northborough. 




Westborough. 


Northbridge. 








District 


No. 17. 


Deputy 


A. D. P 


utnam, Spencer. 


Telephone, 7 


5-4 or 75-6. 


Auburn. 




North Brookfield. 


Boylston. 




Oakham. 


Brookfield. 




Paxton. 


Clinton. 




Rutland. 


Holden. 




Spencer. 


Leicester. 




West Boylston. 


New Braintree. 




Worcester. 



142 



DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 



District No. 18. 



Deputy Irving O. Converse, Fitchburg. 
Telephone, 269-1. 

Lunenburg. 



Ashby. 

Ashburnham 

Fitchburg. 

Lancaster. 

Leominster. 



Princeton. 
Sterling. 
Townsend. 
Westminster. 



District No. 19. 

Deputy Albert L. Stratton, Athol. 

Telephone, 24-0. 



Athol. 




Royalston. 


Erving. 




Templeton. 


Gardner. 




Warwick". 


Hubbardston. 




Wendell. 


Orange. 




Winchendon. 


Phillipston. 








District 


No. 20. 


Deputy 


Dennis 


F. Shea, Ware. 




Telepho 


ae, 132. 


Barre. 




New Salem. 


Belchertown. 




Pelham. 


Dana. 




Petersham. 


Enfield. 




Prescott. 


Greenwich. 




Shutesbury. 


Hard wick. 




Ware. 



District No. 21. 

Deputy John F. Litman, Palmer. 
Telephone, 17-5. 



Brimfield. 

Charlton. 

Dudlev. 

Holland. 

Monson. 

Palmer. 



Southbridge. 

Sturbridge. 

Wales. 

Warren. 

West Brookfield. 



DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 



143 



District No. 22. 



Deputy James P. Hatch, Springfield. 
Telephone, 2458-1. 



Agawam. 

Amherst. 

Chicopee. 

East Longmeadow. 

Granby. 

Hadley. 

Hampden. 



Holyoke. 

Longmeadow. 

Ludlow. 

South Hadley. 

Springfield. 

West Springfield. 

Wilbraham. 



District No. 23. 

Deputy Charles H. Gehle, Westfield. 
Telephone, 843 or 920. 



Blandford. 




Montgomery. 


Chester. 




Russell. 


Granville. 




Southwick. 


Huntington. 




Tolland. 


Middlefield. 




Westfield. 




District 


No. 24. 


Deputy, 






Telephone, 




Chesterfield. 




Northampton. 


Cummington. 




Southampton. 


Easthampton. 




Westhampton. 


Goshen. 




Williamsburg. 


Hatfield. 




Worthington. 




District 


No. 25. 


Deputy Lyman E. '. 


?Iuberg, Greenfield 




Telepho 


ne, 585. 


Ashfield. 




Conway. 


Bernardston. 




Deerfield. 


Buckland. 




Gill. 


Colrain. 




Greenfield. 



14. 



dPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 



Leverett. 
Leyden. 
Montague. 
Northfield. 



Plainfield. 
Shelburne. 
Sunderland. 
Whately. 



District No. 26. 

Deputy Arthur M. Nichols, North Adams. 

Telephone, 537-2. 



Adams. 




Monroe. 


Charlemont. 




New Ashford. 


Cheshire. 




North Adams. 


Clarksburg. 




Rowe. 


Florida. 




Savoj^. 


Hawley. 




Williamstown. 


Heath. 






• 


District 


No. 27. 


Deputy 


Fred R. Zeigler, Pittsfield 




Telephon< 


3, 362-11. 


Becket. 




Peru. 


Dalton. 




Pittsfield. 


Hancock. 




Richmond. 


Hinsdale. 




Washington. 


Lanesborough 




Windsor. 



District No. 28. 

Deputy William W. Sargood, Lee. 

Telephone, 119-24. 



Alford. 
Egremont. 
Great BarringtoBt, 
Lee. f) X 

Lenox. 

Monterey. 

Mount Washington. 



New Marlborough. 

Otis. 

Sandisfield. 

Sheffield. 

Stockbridge. 

Tyringham. 

West Stockbridge. 



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